Efficacy of iPad “spatial release” application

Abstract

Spatial Release from Masking (SRM) is the ability to obtain better speech recognition thresholds when the maskers are spatially separated from the target. Here, we present SRM data collected using three techniques: over headphones using a virtual speaker array, using Spatial Release iPad application (https://bgc.ucr.edu/games/spatialrelease/), and loudspeaker presentation in a sound-attenuated room. For all three techniques, Coordinate Response Measure (CRM) sentences were used as the stimuli, and “Charlie” was the call sign. A progressive tracking procedure was used to estimate the Speech Recognition Thresholds (SRTs) for listeners with varying hearing thresholds. The target sentence was always presentedg at 0 deg azimuth angle whereas the maskers were colocated (0 deg) with the target or symmetrically spatially separated by ±15 deg, ±30 deg, or ±45 de. Initial data analysis revealed similar SRTs for the iPad and headphone conditions and slightly poorer thresholds for the loudspeaker array condition. Thi...