SIHS TD Literature Review:Issues in Restorative Hearing

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA477128&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

The auditory sense is a significant perceptual component of the dismounted infantry soldier’s situation awareness. However, battlefield noise hazards necessitate the use of perceptually isolating hearing protection. This report seeks to review the progress made and key issues identified in developing a system to restore hearing capabilities to the protected listener. The auditory needs of the dismounted infantry soldier are described, followed by a description of the noise hazards encountered by the soldier. The implications of hearing protection and additional issues in restoring hearing are discussed. Scientific studies of restorative hearing systems are then detailed, starting from the simplest passive level-dependent systems and culminating in the most sophisticated transparent hearing systems, using a common protection, detection, localization, and speech intelligibility framework. Conclusions and recommendations for test criteria for future restorative hearing systems are given.
DTIC