Evaluation of a Telephone Speech-Enhancement Algorithm Among Older Adults With Hearing Loss

Roup, Christina M.; Poling, Gayla L.; Harhager, Kimberly; Krishnamurthy, Ashok; Feth, Lawrence L.

doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0181)

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

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“…Increasing the telephone audio bandwidth has been shown to increase speech quality and, in some cases, intelligibility in noise for hearing individuals [11]. Artificial bandwidth extension, primarily for cochlear implant users, has received limited attention, with some promise for improved speech recognition and quality [14] Other research has focused on building audio enhancements directly into telecommunications systems [19] [33], in order to match the hearing loss profiles of individuals with their use of telephones. However, to our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the impact of technical parameters on telecommunications for people with hearing loss.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voice Telephony for Individuals with Hearing Loss

Kozma-Spytek

Tucker

Vogler

2019

The 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

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This paper describes three studies conducted with a total of 114 individuals with hearing loss and 12 hearing controls, with the goal of investigating the impact of audio quality parameters on the accessibility of voice telecommunications. Three categories of parameters are covered: (1) narrowband (NB) versus wideband (WB) audio; (2) encoding audio at varying bit rates, ranging from typical rates used in today's telecom networks to the highest quality supported by these audio codecs; and (3) absence of packet loss to worst-case packet loss in VoIP telephony. With WB audio, individuals with hearing loss exhibit better speech recognition, expend less perceived mental effort, and rate speech quality higher than with NB audio. Bit rate affects speech recognition for NB audio, and speech quality ratings for both NB and WB audio. Packet loss affects all of speech recognition, mental effort, and speech quality ratings. WB versus NB audio also affects hearing individuals, especially under packet loss.

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Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voice Telephony for Individuals with Hearing Loss

Kozma-Spytek

Tucker

Vogler

2019

The 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

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Improving Mobile Phone Speech Recognition by Personalized Amplification: Application in People with Normal Hearing and Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss

et al. 2017

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Factors Affecting the Accessibility of Voice Telephony for People with Hearing Loss: Audio Encoding, Network Impairments, Video and Environmental Noise

Kozma-Spytek

Vogler

2021

ACM Trans. Access. Comput.

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This paper describes four studies with a total of 114 individuals with hearing loss and 12 hearing controls that investigate the impact of audio quality parameters on voice telecommunications. These studies were first informed by a survey of 439 individuals with hearing loss on their voice telecommunications experiences. While voice telephony was very important, with high usage of wireless mobile phones, respondents reported relatively low satisfaction with their hearing devices’ performance for telephone listening, noting that improved telephone audio quality was a significant need. The studies cover three categories of audio quality parameters: (1) narrowband (NB) versus wideband (WB) audio; (2) encoding audio at varying bit rates, from typical rates used in today's mobile networks to the highest quality supported by these audio codecs; and (3) absence of packet loss to worst-case packet loss in both mobile and VoIP networks. Additionally, NB versus WB audio was tested in auditory-only and audiovisual presentation modes and in quiet and noisy environments. With WB audio in a quiet environment, individuals with hearing loss exhibited better speech recognition, expended less perceived mental effort, and rated speech quality higher than with NB audio. WB audio provided a greater benefit when listening alone than when the visual channel also was available. The noisy environment significantly degraded performance for both presentation modes, but particularly for listening alone. Bit rate affected speech recognition for NB audio, and speech quality ratings for both NB and WB audio. Packet loss affected all of speech recognition, mental effort, and speech quality ratings. WB versus NB audio also affected hearing individuals, especially under packet loss. These results are discussed in terms of the practical steps they suggest for the implementation of telecommunications systems and related technical standards and policy considerations to improve the accessibility of voice telephony for people with hearing loss.

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Evaluation of a Telephone Speech-Enhancement Algorithm Among Older Adults With Hearing Loss

Abstract: Results indicate that preprocessing the acoustic signal is a viable method of improving speech recognition via the telephone. The algorithm has the potential to benefit older adults with SNHL who struggle to communicate via the telephone with or without hearing aids.

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Voice Telephony for Individuals with Hearing Loss

Voice Telephony for Individuals with Hearing Loss

Improving Mobile Phone Speech Recognition by Personalized Amplification: Application in People with Normal Hearing and Mild-to-Moderate Hearing Loss

Factors Affecting the Accessibility of Voice Telephony for People with Hearing Loss: Audio Encoding, Network Impairments, Video and Environmental Noise

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