Intelligibility of Synthesized Voice Messages in Commercial Truck Cab Noise for Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Listeners

A human factors experiment was conducted to assess the intelligibility of synthesized speech under a variety of noise conditions for both hearing-impaired and normal-hearing subjects. Modified Rhyme Test stimuli were used to determine intelligibility in four speech-to-noise (S/N) ratios (0,5,10, and 15 dB), and three noise types, consisting of flat-by-octaves (pink) noise, interior noise of a currently produced heavy truck, and truck cab noise with added background speech. A quiet condition was also investigated. During recording of the truck noise for the experiment, in-cab noise measurements were obtained. According to OSHA standards, these data indicated that drivers of the sampled trucks have a minimal risk for noise-induced hearing loss due to in-cab noise exposure when driving at freeway speeds because noise levels were below 80 dBA. In the intelligibility experiment, subjects with hearing loss had significantly lower intelligibility than normal-hearing subjects, both in quiet and in noise, but no interaction with noise type or S/N ratio was found. Intelligibility was significantly lower for the noise with background speech than the other noises, but the truck noise produced intelligibility equal to the pink noise. An analytical prediction of intelligibility using Articulation Index calculations exhibited a high positive correlation with the empirically obtained intelligibility data for both groups of subjects.

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