HEARING LOSS AND PROSTHESIS SIMULATOR

这项工作的长期目标是建立一个系统，该系统可以模拟听力损失与助听器、人工耳蜗或其他听觉假肢相结合的听觉感知效应。这个模拟器将完全可穿戴，因此它可以在日常环境中使用，而不占用手或眼睛。或者，它可以连接到计算机上使用，以广泛改变系统特性。它将是一个双耳系统，具有独立指定的左右通道的损失和假体特性，并且它将提供简单的控制，以便当它从PC上断开连接时，用户可以在几个损失和假体设置之间切换。最终目标是使模拟器以中等成本（约700美元）提供以下应用：培训听力学家和聋人教育工作者；听力保护和公众教育项目示范；为听障人士和聋人家庭举办的示范活动；为潜在助听器使用者示范；作为一种研究工具。第一阶段的工作将开发该系统的核心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，该方法有望为沉浸在声场中的用户模拟高达100 dB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耳聋教育的培训项目、家长/亲属咨询项目和研究人员。据估计，美国的这一市场规模约为1,000台，世界其他地区的市场规模也差不多。一个更大的市场群体是美国大约1万名助听器配售员，但他们购买助听器的积极性较低

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.