REAL-TIME NATURAL HEARING DEVICE FOR ENCAPSULATING HEADGEAR

Protective helmets anticipated for the next generation Army soldier (Objective Force Warrior) will provide superior ballistic and biological protection by encapsulating the entire head. However, such an encapsulating design will limit the soldier's ability to effectively hear the surrounding acoustic environment, limiting the soldier's effectiveness. The design and development of a fully encapsulating ballistic helmet with real-time acoustic field monitoring is proposed. The primary goal of the Phase I effort is to demonstrate the proof of concept of accurate hearing and localization through development of an encapsulating helmet prototype. The technical objectives and work tasks focus on intensive data collection followed by an exhaustive mathematical investigation of the optimal sensor/transducer placements to provide the most realistic hearing capabilities. Finally, the optimal compensation solution will be implemented and tested during the Phase I effort for both quantitative and qualitative performance verification. The multi-disciplinary approach required by the proposed design is facilitated by a strong technical team. Together ATI and Virginia Tech possess all of the expertise, hardware, and facilities required to effectively investigate this problem. The team assembled for Phase I, and anticipated for Phase II, includes experts in human perception of audio, mechatronics, digital audio design, controls, and signal processing.