Self-motion with Hearing Impairment and (Directional) Hearing Aids

Abstract

When listening to a sound source in everyday situations, typical movement behavior is highly individual and may not result in the listener directly facing the sound source. Behavioral differences can affect the performance of directional algorithms in hearing aids, as was shown in previous work by using head movement trajectories of normal-hearing (NH) listeners in acoustic simulations for noise-suppression performance predictions. However, the movement behavior of hearing-impaired (HI) listeners with or without hearing aids may differ, and hearing-aid users might adapt their self-motion to improve the performance of directional algorithms. This work investigates the influence of hearing impairment on self-motion, and the interaction of hearing aids with self-motion. In order to do this, the self-motion of three HI participant groups­­­—aided with an adaptive differential microphone (ADM), aided without ADM, and unaided—was measured and compared to previously measured self-motion data from younger and older NH participants. Self-motion was measured in virtual audiovisual environments (VEs) in the laboratory, and the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and SNR improvement of the ADM resulting from the head movements of the participants were estimated using acoustic simulations. HI participants did almost all of the movement with their head and less with their eyes compared to NH participants, which led to a 0.3 dB increase in estimated SNR and to differences in estimated SNR improvement of the ADM. However, the self-motion of the HI participants aided with ADM was similar to that of other HI participants, indicating that the ADM did not cause listeners to adapt their self-motion.

Acoustic scene complexity affects motion behavior during speech perception in audio-visual multi-talker virtual environments

“…This explains the observed increase in both head and eye movement. The increase in eye movement aligns with some of the findings by Hendrikse et al 39 , who observed increased variability in gaze position for older and hearingimpaired participants listening to conversations in virtual environments. The longer head fixations in high-reverberant conditions may indicate an extended listening period before participants moved their heads to a new position.…”

“…While there is an advantage of less direct head location to improve SNR, the task used in this study triggered visual search behavior, even though there was no benefit from the visual information. This might have led participants to make less use of the SNR benefit for head locations, similar to findings in studies investigating head orientations during conversations 33,39 . The SNR benefit of less direct head positions, however, may explain the higher final head orientation offset at the decision phase's end for high-reverberant scenes 33,39 .…”

“…This might have led participants to make less use of the SNR benefit for head locations, similar to findings in studies investigating head orientations during conversations 33,39 . The SNR benefit of less direct head positions, however, may explain the higher final head orientation offset at the decision phase's end for high-reverberant scenes 33,39 . The reduced amount of time spend on the target talker in the high-reverberation condition during the decision phase indicates that subjects were more insecure about the exact target position, scanning targets in the proximity before making the final decision.…”

Spontaneous head movements support accurate horizontal auditory localization in a virtual visual environment

“…Several patient-dependent factors have an impact on sound source localization skills, but studies on adults and children show large amounts of variability across listeners even with similar backgrounds. There can even be changes in everyday listening behavior associated with hearing loss and hearing aid use [ 44 ]. Further research is needed to clarify all these aspects.…”

Active sound source localization in bilateral hearing-impaired children

“…A quantitative analysis of active listening hence may pave the way for the use of new methodologies in auditory localization studies, capable of objectively characterizing the listeners' spatial listening strategies 46 also based on their motor behavior in a controlled acoustic ecology. Furthermore, based on the positioning of the head-mounted devices and their orientation angle when the target was hit, the data acquired during a test session might be used to train dynamic and adaptive algorithms enhancing the directionality of cochlear implants and hearing aids.…”