Abstract
This study developed a wearable hearing-assist system that can identify the direction of a sound source while using short-term interaural time differences (ITDs) of sound pressure and convey the sound source direction to a hearing-impaired person via vibrators that are attached to his or her shoulders. This system, which is equipped with two microphones, could dynamically detect and convey the direction of front, side, and even rear sound sources. A male subject was able to turn his head toward continuous or intermittent sound sources within approximately 2.8 s when wearing the developed system. The sound source direction is probably overestimated when the interval between the two ears is smaller. When the subject can utilize vision, this may help in tracking the location of the target sound source, especially if the target comes into view, and it may shorten the tracking period.
Highlights
Most of the animals can localize the source of a sound, typically to run away from predators or capture prey
The system identifies the direction of a sound source using short-term interaural time differences (ITDs) of sound pressure and notifies the subject which hemisphere contains the sound source by the vibration of two vibrators that were attached at the shoulders
An algorithm that was similar to the auditory mechanism of a Barn owl was utilized for identifying the direction of sound source while using short-term ITDs [43,44,45]
Summary
Most of the animals can localize the source of a sound, typically to run away from predators or capture prey. A hearing-impaired person could have improved quality of life if a wearable hearing-assist system that detects sounds with microphones, localizes the sound source, and notifies the wearer of the source direction could be developed. Baumann et al proposed a mathematical model for identifying horizontal source direction while using ITD variation when a binaural system rotates [34] They presented a simple and effective mathematical model for localizing a two-dimensional (2D) sound source. An algorithm that was similar to the auditory mechanism of a Barn owl was utilized for identifying the direction of sound source while using short-term ITDs [43,44,45] This algorithm is redundant and adaptable for real surrounding conditions. This paper is an extended version of the paper which clarifies the reason why could “Cone of confusion” be resolved
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