DEVELOPMENT OF A FOCUSED FIELD INDUCTION LOOP ASSISTIVE LISTENING SYSTEM FOR THE CLASSROOM AND WORKSITE.

PHASE I OF THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND PILOT TESTING OF NEW CONCEPTS THAT ADDRESS THE LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT DESIGNS IN THE FIELD OF ASSISTIVE LISTENING SYSTEMS FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED. THE MAJOR PROBLEMS THAT HAVE BEEN INHERENT IN MAGNETIC INDUCTION SYSTEMS (SPILLOVER, UNIFORMITY OF COVERAGE, VARIABILITY OF SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO) WILL BE STUDIED. THE FEASIBILITY OF "MAGNETIC FOCUSING" WILL BE TESTED. AN UNUSUAL COLLABORATION OF DISCIPLINES AND TECHNIQUES (AUDIO ENGINEERING, APPLIED AND THEORETICAL PHYSICS, HEARING AND SPEECH SCIENCES) WILL ATTEND TO THE DESIGN, PROTOTYPE CONSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATIONS. APPLICATIONS ARE STRONGLY INDICATED FOR HEARING IMPAIRED PEOPLE IN THE CLASSROOM, WORKSITE, AS WELL AS IN THEATRES, HOUSES OF WORSHIP, ETC. PHASE II WILL RESULT IN THE REFINEMENT OF PROTOTYPE DESIGNS AND EVALUATIVE PROCEDURES, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TEST SITES THAT REPRESENT A CROSS-SECTION OF THE HEARING IMPAIREDPOPULATION IN SCHOOLS AND TRAINING/WORKFORCE SETTINGS.