An improved privacy-aware system for objective and subjective ecological momentary assessment
Keywords:
Ecological Momentary Assessment, smartphone, EMA, privacy-aware, open-sourceAbstract
The technical components and software features of a new hearing-aid compatible smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) system are presented in this paper. EMA is an assessment strategy that seeks to minimise instrumental infliction on the measured entity while data is gathered at multiple points of time. This work builds upon an already developed and deployed smartphone-based system. Objective data is gathered in the form of acoustical features, while subjective data is collected via automatised questionnaires. Since linking objective acoustical measures to subjective assessments is particularly promising with regard to the hearing rehabilitation process, our system has been specially tailored for hearing aid users. The introduction of wireless data transfer has eliminated cable clutter, a customisable questionnaire allows for subjective assessment, and a streamlined user interface complements the design. Like the former version, the current revision ensures the privacy of both participants and third parties. To facilitate cooperative research, source code and custom-built hardware will be released under open source licenses. All additional components are commercially available.
References
Banerjee, S. (2011b). “Hearing aids in the real world: Typical automatic behavior of expansion, directionality, and noise management,” J. Am. Acad. Audiol., 22, 34-48. doi: 10.3766/jaaa.22.1.5
Bitzer, J., Kissner, S., and Holube, I. (2016). “Privacy-aware acoustic assessments of everyday life,” J. Audio Eng. Soc., 64, 395-404. doi. 10.17743/jaes.2016.0020
Falk, T.H., Zheng, C., and Chan, W.Y. (2010). “A non-intrusive quality and intelligibility masure of reverberant and dereverberated speech,” IEEE T. Audio Speech, 18, 1766-1774. doi: 10.1109/TASL.2010.2052247
Galvez, G., Turbin, M.B., Thielman, E.J., Istvan, J.A., Andrews, J.A., Henry, J.A. (2012). “Feasibility of ecological momentary assessment of hearing difficulties encountered by hearing aid users,” Ear Hearing, 33, 497-507. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3182498c41
Kissner, S., Holube, I., and Bitzer, J. (2015). “A smartphone-based, privacy-aware recording system for the assessment of everyday listening situations,” Proc. ISAAR, 5, 445-452.
Meis, M., Krueger, M., Gebhard, M., von Gablenz, P., Holube, I., Grimm, G., and Paluch, R. (2017). “Overview of new outcome tools addressing auditory ecological validity: Analyses of behavior in real life listening environments,” Proc. ISAAR, 6, 31-38.
Shiffman, S., Stone, A.A., and Hufford, M.R. (2008). “Ecological momentary assessment,” Annu. Rev. Clin. Psycho., 4, 1-32. doi: 10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.3.022806.091415
Timmer, B.H.B., Hickson, L., and Launer, S. (2017). “Ecological momentary assessment: Feasibility, construct validity, and future applications,” Am. J. Audiol., 26.3S, 436-442. doi: 10.1044/2017 AJA-16-0126
Wu, Y.H., Stangl, E., Chipara, O., Shabih Hasan, S., Welhaven, A., and Oleson, J. (2017). “Characteristics of real-world signal to noise ratios and speech listening situations of older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss,” Ear Hearing, in press. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000486
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
a. Authors retain copyright* and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
*From the 2017 issue onward. The Danavox Jubilee Foundation owns the copyright of all articles published in the 1969-2015 issues. However, authors are still allowed to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.