Work is proposed to develop a system that will enable audiometric assessment of directional hearing. Work in Phase I will address the technical feasibility of using a small-radius loudspeaker array for testing localization ability. Specifically, efforts will be made to evaluate the use of a two-loudspeaker array that is small enough to fit in a single-person audiometric booth, and that also gives test results that are independent of the acoustic-reflective properties of the surrounding environment. Later work, to be done in Phase II, will focus on the development of efficient test procedures and an operator interface. A small number of prototype systems will be assembled for the purpose of clinical evaluation and study. The study will be conducted to determine the association between performance on the localization test and other measures, both subjective and objective, of directional hearing and hearing aid benefit.
