SFB 1330: Hearing acoustics: Perceptual principles, Algorithms and Applications (HAPPAA)

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Human speech communication is the foundation of our culture and key to active participation in society. It is challenged by a number of factors, such as complex acoustic backgrounds in social gatherings, com-plex room acoustics, ubiquitous noise and reverberation, as well as hearing impairment. These factors limit the capability of individuals to achieve their communication goals in daily-life environments, which holds in particular for individuals with hearing impairment. Despite the tremendous progress due to digital signal processing being introduced as a standard, current electroacoustic devices that support acoustic commu-nication in these situations provide only a limited benefit. This is mostly because the interrelation between the challenging factors mentioned above with the device function and the performance of the individual listener are not well understood. In particular, mostly passive listening is assumed in the design of current devices, whereas real-life communication involves active listening by, e.g., positioning both ears of the user in an optimum way, utilizing binaural perception advantages, and acting appropriately. Hence, human acoustic communication involves a loop that includes the sound field, the device, the perception of the user and the user’s active behavior. The collaborative research centre (CRC) Hearing Acoustics goes well be-yond earlier research by systematically investigating this acoustic communication loop, and taking it into account for auditory modeling as well as for hearing device development and evaluation. The CRC aims at a fundamentally better quantitative understanding of the principles underlying the processing of complex auditory and audio-visual scenes by humans, the implementation of this knowledge in algorithms for per-ceptual enhancement of acoustic communication, and the evaluation of these algorithms for different appli-cations in consumer electronics, assistive listening devices and hearing devices. In addition, the CRC es-tablishes novel lab-based subject-in-the loop assessment procedures, which use audio-visual virtual reality to embed the listener in a simulated communication loop. This ensures a high level of ecological validity of the experimental results, i.e., laboratory results reflect hearing-related communication performance in real-life conditions to a higher degree than what earlier experimental approaches offered. To achieve these goals, the CRC links the different disciplines that contribute to the research field, i.e., acoustics, psychoa-coustics, audiology, engineering and physical modelling. The research output, i.e., better support by elec-troacoustic devices for enhanced acoustic communication (speech, music) in real life, better principles of man-machine interaction with consumer electronics, and an extensive basis for improved design and as-sessment of hearing devices, is highly relevant to our (ageing) communication society.