Influence of multi-microphone signal enhancement algorithms on auditory movement detection in acoustically complex situations

Authors

  • Micha Lundbeck Medizinische Physik and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany; HörTech gGmbH, Oldenburg, Germany
  • Laura Hartog Medizinische Physik and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany; HörTech gGmbH, Oldenburg, Germany
  • Giso Grimm Medizinische Physik and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany; HörTech gGmbH, Oldenburg, Germany
  • Volker Hohmann Medizinische Physik and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany; HörTech gGmbH, Oldenburg, Germany
  • Lars Bramsløw Eriksholm Research Centre, Snekkersten, Denmark
  • Tobias Neher Medizinische Physik and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany; Institute of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

Keywords:

Auditory movement perception, hearing loss, minimum audible movement angle, distance perception, hearing aids, signal processing

Abstract

The influence of hearing aid (HA) signal processing on the perception of spatially dynamic sounds has not been systematically investigated so far. Previously, we observed that interfering sounds impaired the detectability of left-right source movements and reverberation that of near-far source movements for elderly hearing-impaired (EHI) listeners (Lundbeck et al., 2017). Here, we explored potential ways of improving these deficits with HAs. To that end, we carried out acoustic analyses to examine the impact of two beamforming algorithms and a binaural coherence-based noise reduction scheme on the cues underlying movement perception. While binaural cues remained mostly unchanged, there were greater monaural spectral changes and increases in signal-to-noise ratio and direct-to-reverberant sound ratio as a result of the applied processing. Based on these findings, we conducted a listening test with 20 EHI listeners. That is, we performed aided measurements of movement detectability in two acoustic scenarios. For both movement dimensions, we found that the applied processing could partly restore source movement detection in the presence of reverberation and interfering sounds.

References

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Adaptive processes in hearing

Additional Files

Published

2017-12-14

How to Cite

Lundbeck, M., Hartog, L., Grimm, G., Hohmann, V., Bramsløw, L., & Neher, T. (2017). Influence of multi-microphone signal enhancement algorithms on auditory movement detection in acoustically complex situations. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 6, 397–404. Retrieved from https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2017-49

Issue

Vol. 6 (2017): Adaptive Processes in Hearing

Section

2017/6. Advances in hearing-instrument features and related effects

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