HEARING LOSS AND PROSTHESIS SIMULATOR

这项拟议工作的长期目标是建立一种系统，模拟听力损失与助听器、人工耳蜗或其他听觉假体相结合的听觉感知效果。这个模拟器将是完全可穿戴的，因此它可以在日常环境中使用，而不需要占用手或眼睛。或者，它可以在连接到计算机时使用，以实现系统特性的广泛变化。它将是一个双耳系统，左声道和右声道的损失和假体特性可独立指定，它将提供简单的控制，以便当它从PC上解开时，用户可以在几个损失和假体设置之间切换。最终目标是以适中的成本(约700美元)提供模拟器，用于以下应用：培训听力学专家和聋人教育工作者；演示听力保护和公共教育方案；为听力受损和聋人的家庭进行演示；为潜在的助听器用户进行演示；以及作为研究工具。第一阶段的工作将为该系统开发核心DSP技术，并将评估采用被动衰减、掩蔽噪声和自动增益控制的混合方法的可行性，预计该方法将使沉浸在声场中的用户能够模拟高达100分贝的听力损失。拟议的商业应用：模拟器的主要市场包括听力学和聋人教育方面的培训项目，家长/亲属咨询项目，以及研究人员。据估计，美国这一市场的规模约为1000台，世界其他地区也有类似规模的市场。一个更大的市场群体是美国大约10,000个助听器配送器，尽管购买动机较弱。

The long-term goal of the proposed work is a system that simulates the auditory-perceptual effects of hearing loss in combination with hearing aids, cochlear implants, or other auditory prostheses. This simulator will be completely wearable so that it can be used in everyday settings without occupying hands or eyes. Alternatively, it can be used while tethered to a computer for extensive changes of system characteristics. It will be a binaural system, with loss and prosthesis characteristics independently specifiable for the left and right channels, and it will provide simple controls so that when it is un-tethered from the PC the user can switch among several loss and prosthesis settings. The eventual goal is to make the simulator available at moderate cost (approximately $700) for the following applications: training audiologists and educators of the deaf; demonstrations in hearing- conservation and public education programs; demonstrations for families of hearing-impaired and deaf persons; demonstrations for prospective hearing aid users; and as a research tool. The work in Phase I will develop the core DSP technology for the system and will assess the feasibility of a hybrid method employing passive attenuation, masking noise, and automatic gain control that is expected to enable simulation of hearing losses as large as 100 dB for a user immersed in a sound field. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The primary market for the simulator consists of training programs in audiology and deaf-education, parent/relative-counseling programs, and researchers. The size of this market in the U.S. is estimated to be about a thousand units, with a similar-sized market in the rest of the world. A larger market group, though one with less motivation to purchase, is the roughly 10,000 hearing-aid dispensers in the U.S.