Portable System for Auditory Situational Awareness Assessment and Training

Modern hearing protection devices (HPDs) often include electronic “hear-through” technology that helps to preserve or enhance the user’s auditory situational awareness (ASA). Restoration of ASA has removed one of the largest barriers to HPD adoption. However, because HPDs alter the shape of the ear or ear canal, they distort the acoustic cues used by the brain to localize the source of a sound. Thus, there is a need to both measure the effect HPDs have on sound localization and to train HPD users to localize sounds while wearing their HPDs. However, current sound localization systems are essentially fixed installations that are expensive to set up and difficult use. A new, portable, and inexpensive measurement-training system is needed. Creare proposes to develop an Auditory Situational Awareness Station (ASA Station) that combines innovative sound projection technologies and user interfaces to maximize training effectiveness and efficiency in a lightweight, easy-to-use, and portable package. In the Phase I Base we will demonstrate the core ASA Station innovations in a proof-of-concept system. In Phase II, we will develop a complete prototype solution covering the full range operational specifications.