HI-SIMv1.0: Hearing Impairment Simulation on A CD-ROM

Traditional classroom techniques lacking the advantages offered by multimedia demonstrations often fall short of the goal of furnishing the students with an adequate “ears-on” awareness of the problems of the hearingimpaired. As a first step towards virtual hearing impairment, a CD-ROM with speech material simulating a selection of common types of hearing impairment was produced. The material was produced using digital signal processing, i.e. digital filtering and mixing of speech and noise. The CD-ROM, intended as an interactive educational tool, allows students and others interested in the effects of hearing defects a virtual experience of hearing impairments such as hearing loss due to chronic otitis media, noise exposure and ageing. User-selectable options available in the simulation include grade of hearing impairment, audiometric configuration, type and level of background noise, reverberation time and listening distance. Menus and buttons are used for selecting the simulation options. Word recognition scores can be computed for standard Finnish audiometric material.