Stress classification with in-ear heartbeat sounds.

Background: Although stress plays a key role in tinnitus and decreased sound tolerance, conventional hearing devices used to manage these conditions are not currently capable of monitoring the wearer's stress level. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of stress monitoring with an in-ear device.

Method: In-ear heartbeat sounds and clinical-grade electrocardiography (ECG) signals were simultaneously recorded while 30 healthy young adults underwent a stress protocol.

Classification of Breathing Phase and Path with In-Ear Microphones.

In recent years, the use of smart in-ear devices (hearables) for health monitoring has gained popularity. Previous research on in-ear breath monitoring with hearables uses signal processing techniques based on peak detection. Such techniques are greatly affected by movement artifacts and other challenging real-world conditions.

Student's Self-Reported Experience of Soundscape: The Link between Noise, Psychological and Physical Well-Being.

Extensive research has shown that noise has detrimental effects on learning in classrooms, yet schools remain noisy environments. In addition, little is known about the students' insight into their subjective reaction to noise. Students' awareness of noise, as well as their perception of its effects on their affective and bodily states, remain unanswered.

Method for protected noise exposure level assessment under an in-ear hearing protection device: a pilot study.

Objective: To properly measure the effective noise exposure level of workers with hearing protection devices (HPD), the use of in-ear noise dosimeters (IEND) is increasing. Commercial IENDs typically feature one in-ear microphone that captures all noises inside the ear and do not discriminate the residual noise in the earcanal from wearer-induced disturbances (WID) to calculate the in-ear sound pressure levels (SPL). A method to alleviate this particular issue with IENDs and calculate the hearing protection level on-site is therefore proposed.

An in-ear speech database in varying conditions of the audio-phonation loop.

With the rise of hearables and the advantages of using in-ear microphones with intra-aural devices, accessibility to an in-ear speech database in adverse conditions is essential. Speech captured inside the occluded ear is limited in its frequency bandwidth and has an amplified low frequency content. In addition, occluding the ear canal affects speech production, especially in noisy environments.

Modeling Speech Level as a Function of Background Noise Level and Talker-to-Listener Distance for Talkers Wearing Hearing Protection Devices.

Purpose: Studying the variations in speech levels with changing background noise level and talker-to-listener distance for talkers wearing hearing protection devices (HPDs) can aid in understanding communication in background noise.

Method: Speech was recorded using an intra-aural HPD from 12 different talkers at 5 different distances in 3 different noise conditions and 2 quiet conditions.

Results: This article proposes models that can predict the difference in speech level as a function of background noise level and talker-to-listener distance for occluded talkers.

In-ear microphone speech quality enhancement via adaptive filtering and artificial bandwidth extension.

Bone and tissue conducted speech has been used in noisy environments to provide a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio signal. However, the limited bandwidth of bone and tissue conducted speech degrades the quality of the speech signal. Moreover in very noisy conditions, bandwidth extension of the bone and tissue conducted speech becomes problematic.

Variations in voice level and fundamental frequency with changing background noise level and talker-to-listener distance while wearing hearing protectors: A pilot study.

Objective: Speech production in noise with varying talker-to-listener distance has been well studied for the open ear condition. However, occluding the ear canal can affect the auditory feedback and cause deviations from the models presented for the open-ear condition. Communication is a main concern for people wearing hearing protection devices (HPD).