company showcase & barbecue...dr. thomas wittkop 17.15 open demonstration session: see, feel and...

COMPANY SHOWCASE

& BARBECUE

Services and technologies for hearing devices and

hearing support

offered by HörTech, Hörzentrum Oldenburg, Project Group for Hearing,

Speech and Audio Technology of the Fraunhofer IDMT and Hearing4all

MAY 31st 2017

CLUSTER OF EXCELLENCE IN THE

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Dear project partners, colleagues and friends

you are kindly invited to join us for our 2nd Company Showcase & Barbecue in Oldenburg on Wednesday, May 31st, from 15.00 pm to 18.30 pm. This event provides an overview of the current hot topics at HörTech gGmbH, Hörzent-rum Oldenburg GmbH, Project Group for Hearing, Speech and Audio Techno-logy of the Fraunhofer IDMT and Hearing4all.

Program15.00 Welcome & Overview - Prof. Dr. Dr. Birger Kollmeier15.10 Listening Effort - Dr. Michael Schulte15.20 New outcome tools addressing auditory ecological validity - Dr. Markus Meis15.30 Open demonstration session: See, feel and discuss with us!16.30 New topics in Research & Development - Dr. Jörg-Hendrik Bach16.45 Hearing support and speech recognition beyond medical use - Dr. Jan Rennies-Hochmuth17:00 OMA 2.0 & Multilingual speech tests - Dr. Thomas Wittkop17.15 Open demonstration session: See, feel and discuss with us!18.30 Barbecue in the Auditory Garden

Please register by May 19nd via mail to [email protected]. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us! Fon +49 441 2172 200

COMPANY SHOWCASE & BARBECUE 2017

Algorithms in hearing devices, e.g., directional microphones, direction of arri-val estimators, or binaural noise reduction, depend on the spatial properties of the surrounding acoustic environment. For hearing aids, a large performance gap between laboratory measurements and real life experience exists. Howe-ver, laboratory tests are indispensable for a systematic algorithm evaluation. The TASCARpro software (toolbox for acoustic scene creation and rendering) is a software solution for virtual acoustic environments, developed to bridge the gap between real life experience and laboratory measurements. Essential properties of the acoustics, such as moving sound sources, air absorption and image sources are physically modeled. A large plausibility of simulated envi-ronments is reached by adding diffuse sounds and reverberation.The virtual environments are rendered in real-time in the time domain, to al-low for interactive positioning of the objects, such as virtual listeners, sound sources or reflecting surfaces. Dynamic motion data can be controlled by head tracking systems, game controllers, or from external measurement software. Processing of external audio streams in real-time provides a seamless integra-tion into audiological or psycho-acoustic measurement tools. The output can be rendered for loudspeaker reproduction as well as for headphone listening. The audio engine can be coupled to video playback and interactive computer graphics, to create immersive audio-visual virtual environments.

TASCARproToolbox for acoustic scene creation and rendering

Contact PersonDr. Giso GrimmResearch & DevelopmentHörTech gGmbH

Fon: +49 441 2172-314eMail: [email protected]

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Development of algorithms for hearing aids is conducted on various hardware: Ranging from high-performance PCs to execute bleeding-edge algorithms to portable, power-efficient, headless, battery-powered devices to be used in realistic scenarios and field tests. In all scenarios, a low delay between acou-stic input and output must be ensured. The Master Hearing Aid (MHA, deve-loped by HörTech gGmbH) offers a single platform for all these stages with a flexible plugin interface and real-time processing capabilities. The openMHA is a further development that is provided as an open tool to the hearing aid research community funded by the National Institutes of Health under the project ”Open community platform for hearing aid algorithm research” (NIH Grant 1R01DC015429-01) that aims at sustainable, reproducible and focused research towards improvement and new types of assistive hearing systems.Coming along without commercial constraints it facilitates exchange and col-laborative research efforts in the community as well as the translation of ad-vances into widespread use with hearing devices. A complete chain of signal processing methods providing full functionality of a binaural, multi-channel hearing aid is included; such as calibration, noise reduction, feedback cancel-lation and multi-band dynamic range compression. It can be used as a refe-rence and in combination with newly developed algorithms for evaluation and comparative studies. Its current version including examples can be downloa-ded via http://www.openmha.org.

Open Master Hearing Aid (openMHA)Software platform for the development and evalua-tion of signal processing algorithms

Contact PersonProf. Dr. Volker HohmannResearch & DevelopmentHörTech gGmbH


The software “Oldenburg Measurement Applications” has been developed in order to offer audiologists an instrument which allows to conveniently conduct new methods in hearing diagnostics using a flexible and modular system, no matter if their workplace is a clinic, a research facility or in the hearing acou-stics branch. This includes classical speech tests as well, for instance, loud-ness scaling and modern, adaptive speech tests in quiet and in noise. In our demonstration we would like to introduce you the new features of OMA 2.0.• New user interfaces• 19 Matrix Tests, 5 Simpified Matrix Tests Speech tests now support diffe-

rent interfering noises included in the distribution (e.g. ICRA)• Speech tests with headphones with virtual spatial acoustics with HRTF’s

included in the distribution or own impulse responses • Multiple interfering noise signals included, installation of own noise sig-

nals• Realtime DSP interfaces (MATLAB and VST), MHA• Support of database servers „Firebird“ and „Microsoft © SQL Server“• Extended data export (XML format) • Optional automatic PDF creation• Supports Windows 7 to Windows 10

Oldenburg Measurement Applications 2.0New features

Contact PersonDr. Daniel BergProduct DevelopmentHörTech gGmbH



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The digit triplets test can be used for swift screening or self-screening of com-munication abilities, e.g. in scientific studies, for customer performance mo-nitoring or even marketing purposes. It is a speech-recognition-in-noise test using spoken combinations of three digits, presented in a noise background. The digit triplets test produces threshold estimates in just a few minutes. It is available on different platforms, and in various languages.The test may be performed on the Auditory Valley web site with a verbal (cate-gorical) result, or with an individual implementation on your own web site yiel-ding exact threshold results, with stand-alone measurement software using special devices like audiometers, as an app, by telephone or with a software solution that is customized to your individual needs.So far, the test is available in the languages Arabic, English (UK), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. Due to the si-milar structure of the tests, the results may be easily compared in international studies. The tests combine the additional advantages of uncalibrated operati-on with consumer devices and large subject numbers with a standardized pro-cedure via web servers. Due to the simple instructions, the digit triplet tests are also very suitable for automatic and self-screening operation.

International digit triplets testMultilingual and comparable self-screening speech tests in noise

Contact PersonDr. Thomas Wittkop Product DevelopmentHörTech gGmbH


Numerous studies showed that different hearing aid algorithms improve speech intelligibility in typical lab situations as measures of clinical efficacy. However, from the perspective of auditory ecology it remains obscure to what extent these results really allow for estimating the performance in complex lis-tening situations in real life. To show this, a new outcome measure was deve-loped for the use with hearing aids to compensate the disadvantages of field tests and the limited clinical relevance of lab measurements: Video-based Analyses of Interpersonal Communication in Realistic Acoustical Experimental Settings (VIB-AICRAS©). This mixed method approach combines elements of the qualitative and quantitative analysis, with an emphasis on annotation pro-cedures. In a series of lab studies of the Hörzentrum Oldenburg, using virtual acoustics, it was shown, that different directional modes of HAs influenced real life behavior of the participants. Based on these findings, two further re-search threads are ongoing. First, within the realm of the Oldenburg Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all the behavior of hearing-impaired adults in real life situations, is described by means of ethnographical methods and compared to typical behavioral patterns in a virtual acoustics lab condition with moving pictures to enhance ecological validity. Second, we are going to establish a new tool of ‘momentary quality of life’ in the IRC project ‘Individual Hearing Aid Benefit in Real Life’ (IHAB-RL). This tool provides a unique combination of individual self-assessment and ICF related external observation in the field.

New outcome tools addressing audi-tory ecological validityAnalyses of behavior in real life settings

Contact PersonDr. Markus Meis Market & Effects ResearchHörzentrum Oldenburg GmbH



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In noisy environments hearing impaired listeners often describe communica-tion as tiring and effortful although they understand nearly everything. A major benefit of hearing systems is not only to improve the intelligibility but also to reduce the effort to understand, i.e. the listening effort. Since more than 10 years we develop tools to measure listening effort in the lab. During this year’s Company showcase we would like to demonstrate a method to measure self-reported listening effort: the Adaptive CAtegorical Listening Effort Scaling ACALES. The ACALES procedure is easy and fast to perform and automatically determines the individual listening effort from “extreme effort” to “no effort” within a range of signal-to-noise ratios that fits to the range of perception of the individual subject. The procedure is able to capture individual differences in subjective listening effort as the intra-individual standard deviation is about two to three times smaller than the inter-individual standard deviation. We will show the new developments around this method as well as results obtained with ACALES. Also, we would like to demonstrate how easy it is to measure the subjective listening effort even in complex realistic scenes using TACAR in the lab. Up to now we applied ACALES to evaluate e.g. the effect of hearing aids on the listening effort in different background maskers. In the near future we will also investigate whether this method is directly applicable to derive the individual listening effort in CI users.

Listening effort Evaluation in the lab and daily life

Contact PersonDr. Michael Schulte Audiology & ProjectsHörzentrum Oldenburg GmbH


Hörzentrum Oldenburg provides medical and audiological care, research and development, and contractual hearing device studies serving all major interna-tional Hearing Device manufacturers. Within the contractual studies, Hörzen-trum Oldenburg designs and performs the specific studies in close collabora-tion to the industry in order to individually evaluate and benchmark hearing related products in detail. In order to implement this expertise, physicists, psychologists, audiologists, computer scientists, ENT-doctors and hearing aidacousticians are working together in the Hörzentrum as a single unit. Stan-dard audiological test methods as well as advanced methods like e.g. speech intelligibility tests in dynamic acoustic TASCARpro scenes with moving target signals, virtual hearing aid for direct (double-) blind paired comparisons of hearing aids, localization measurements with headtracking, or listening effort scaling are included in the audiological toolbox of Hörzentrum Oldenburg. With the help of our 2000 test persons, we investigate hearing products within laboratory tests, ‘intermediate’, and daily life tests; covering the whole range of high reliability to high ecological validity.

Contract audiological research & Services of Hörzentrum Comprehensive no-hassle package for the industry

Contact PersonDr. Kirsten WagenerAudiology & ProjectsHörzentrum Oldenburg GmbH



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“Bag 3 kg of hex screws and take them to the packaging department”– what used to be a typical instruction to be executed by an employee working in a logistics department will increasingly be a command directed towards a voice controlled robot. The solution to be presented is particularly interesting for being used in indus-trial plants and production facilities, as it allows the use of speech recogniti-on also in noisy environments and in settings in which the speaker and the machine to be controlled are located at some distance from each other. The demonstration will feature an industrial robot platform as it is used in auto-mated production processes. It will be shown how the system is able to reco-gnize and distinguish speech and other sounds and how it follows commands accordingly. The system features robust speech recognition technology based on state-of-the-art scientific knowledge from psychoacoustics and psychophysics. Apart from speech recognition and voice control, the intelligent algorithms develo-ped by Fraunhofer can also be used for acoustic process monitoring (to over-see filling or bottling processes, for example) and acoustic assessment of pro-ducts or materials. The technology can be also used for hearing aid devices, the convenient operation of media systems, building management technolo-gy, the safe control of vehicles as well as contactless and reliable operation of technical devices in harsh or sterile environments.

Voice control and acoustic event detection for industrial applicationsAcoustic speech, event and scene classification

Contact PersonDr. Stefan GötzeFraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT


The speech reproduction of communication systems is often subject to super-imposed reverberation and background noise - e.g. in the case of railroad sta-tion announcements. With AdaptDRC, the Fraunhofer IDMT offers a patented software solution which automatically improves speech intelligibility in real time, even in hearing situations with unknown, variable noise. By taking into account the latest findings from hearing research, AdaptDRC achieves a high level of hearing comfort even for narrow-band signals and people suffering from hearing loss. The trick of the software is that the ambient noise is conti-nually analyzed via a microphone, and the speech is adjusted to it in real time. The voice is not simply made louder to drown out the noise, which is often done in today’s technologies, e.g. in car radios. Instead, the AdaptDRC tech-nology enhances speech intelligibility - not volume - and can thus considerab-ly improve speech perception in difficult listening conditions. The solutions is particularly helpful at high noise levels when existing systems reach their technical limits or when speech would have to be made uncomfortably loud to maintain speech intelligibility.

Real-time optimization of speech intelligibilityImproved understanding of speech playback

Contact PersonDr. Jan Rennies-HochmuthFraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT

Fon: +049 441 2172-433eMail:[email protected]


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An increased level of background noise can lead to an elevated listening effort and it becomes more difficult to follow a conversation. Being exposed to such a listening environment for an extended period of time can lead to cognitive fatigue. Employees in support and service centers are especially faced with these challenges. Technical assistance devices can support employees in the-se situations. The current exhibit displays the results of a study on the bene-fits of this hearing support technology on listening effort which was evaluated objectively by recording electrophysiological brain activity (electroencephalo-gram – EEG). Researchers from Fraunhofer IDMT showcase brain activity during periods with vs. without listening support as well as the summarized results of the study regarding listening effort. The results indicate that the hearing support was linked to a decrease in the alpha frequency band activity in the EEG (9 – 10 Hz). The study results show that an individualized hearing support can be an important measure to increase comfort and improve employees’ work environment. Similar results were obtained for a study evaluating a hea-ring aid function and its effect on EEG parameters which have been related to changes in listening effort. The measurement approach is applicable to areas such as listening effort in call-center environments, hearing aids as well as the cognitive effort in safety-critical work environments (air-traffic-control, ship bridge etc.).

Neurophysiologic assessment of listening effortElectroencephalography (EEG) measurements of mental effort

Contact PersonDr. Axel WinnekeFraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT


Everyone has their own auditory perception, own sound preference and own sensation of loudness. From the age of fifty onwards, normal hearing ability also deteriorates in many people. About 70 million people in Europe have a medically indicated hearing impairment. Of these, fewer than 25 percent use a hearing aid. This contribution illustrates an adaptive signal processing soluti-on, which matches each call to individual hearing requirements and therefore offers significantly enhanced hearing comfort for persons both with normal and impaired hearing. The Fraunhofer scientists from the project for Group Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology show signal processing methods and easy-to use operating interfaces that allow users to adapt the audio signal to their individual hearing needs. Even if the telephone connection is poor, the conversation is reproduced with a uniform, easily understandable sound pattern and a pleasant volume level. This allows the call participants to con-centrate on what really matters – good communication!

Better speech intelligibility on the phoneIndividualized technology for more enhanced liste-ning comfort

Contact PersonDr. Jan Rennies-HochmuthFraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT



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Modern hearing aids offer different listening programs to improve the listening experience in changing acoustic environments. However, the hearing aids are not aware of the users’ listening intentions, instead the users need to select the dif-ferent listening programs manually. We assume that hearing aid usability would increase if the users’ current cognitive state could be taken into consideration to select the best listening program for the current situation.Information about the users’ cognitive state can be derived from non-invasive measures of brain-electrical activity using electroencephalography (EEG). Traditi-onally the EEG is recorded with EEG electrode caps that are connected by wires to bulky amplifiers. This technology is not designed to use in everyday situations. What is needed instead are EEG solutions that are portable, motion-tolerant, self-applicable, highly unobtrusive, near invisible and comfortable to wear. In the ideal case such an EEG system would be essentially ‘transparent’ in the sense that the users can forget about wearing it and that other people would not notice it. We work on the development of transparent EEG solutions to measure EEG in everyday situations. We combine wireless EEG amplification, around-the-ear electrode placement (cEEGrids), and off the shelve smartphones to study the possibilities of EEG acquisition in every day live situations for their. Using these components we have developed a closed-loop auditory-attention brain-compu-ter-interface prototype that shows the potential of this technology for hearing aids. This prototype gives a first impression of how user brain state monitoring could become an integral part of modern hearing aids.

EEGRecording brain activity in everyday situations

Contact PersonsDr. Martin BleichnerUniversity OldenburgeMail: [email protected]

Prof. Stefan DebenerUniversity OldenburgeMail: [email protected]

Much of the audio content that we listen to in daily life is rendered over louds-peakers in reverberant environments. The added reverberation may impair speech intelligibility, for example in public address systems in train stations or concert halls. We develop methods to overcome the detrimental effects of rever-beration in speech and audio reproduction based on perceptual optimization criteria. For improving speech intelligibility we use a pre-processing method that is applied to the speech signal before it is played back over loudspeakers. It uses time variant filtering in order to minimize masking of important speech feature by the reverberant sound field. For improving the spatial reproduction of the sound field a special loudspeaker set-up is used where the direct sound field and the reverberant sound field are separately recreated to match the perceptual proper-ties of the original recorded sound field. In this way we can render the recorded sound field in a reverberant environment with a high degree of accuracy as was demonstrated in a perceptual evaluation.

Audio reproduction in reverberant environmentsPerceptual optimization for improved speech intelli-gibility and improved spatial rendering

Contact PersonM.Sc. Julian Grosse University of OldenburgeMail: [email protected]

Prof. Steven van de ParUniversity of OldenburgeMail: [email protected]


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The involvement of HörTech and Hörzentrum Oldenburg in publicly funded research projects is a long standing story of success. Both institutions have been actively involved in a wide number of projects funded by public sources on the regional, national and international level. Each of the past projects was successfully finalized and made an additional contribution to scientific know-ledge and applications in the domain of hearing. The ongoing projects are not only a source of inspiration and motivation for the participating scientists but also continuously provide relevant results for all partners. The creativity, pro-ductivity and innovative capacity of HörTech and Hörzentrum are reflected in the demonstrators, products and publications that resulted from our previous projects. For future projects, we would be delighted to work together with you on new and challenging research questions and/or development tasks.HörTech and Hörzentrum can offer experienced researchers, professional pro-ject performance (as also evidenced by our long list of competitive and pre-competitive industry projects), and a wide international network of project partners. Our staff is well trained with project acquisition and project manage-ment. So if you have project ideas and are looking for competent partners, we are glad to help. Together, we can really get things done!

Publicly Funded Research ProjectsChanging the world of hearing a little bit every day

Contact PersonDr. Jörg-Hendrik BachResearch & DevelopmentHörTech gGmbH


The space-aware hearing aid is a mobile real-time research device that inte-grates a chain of innovative real-time signal processing algorithms using an acoustically transparent research hearing aid. The aim of the techniques is to provide a better means for perceiving the sound environment of the hearing aid user while maintaining high sound quality. The hardware setup includes a custom-made multi-microphone electro-acoustic earpiece, which allows for an individual calibration in order to facilitate an acoustically transparent re-production of the acoustic environment, i.e., the listening quality is not sig-nificantly degraded as compared to the unaided reference. Additional signal processing algorithms are a binaural beamformer controlled by a localization algorithm and an adaptive feedback cancellation algorithm. The localization algorithm is based on a machine learning approach and provides a short-term direction of arrival (DOA) estimate of the desired speech source. Based on this DOA estimate, a binaural beamformer is dynamically steered towards the desired speech source. The feedback cancellation algorithm optimally exploits the specialized hardware layout and consists of a fixed beamformer and an adaptive filter to track large variations of the feedback path(s) between the loudspeaker and the microphone(s), thus achieving excellent suppression of the acoustic feedback component(s).For the visitor of this demonstrator it will be possible to experience the prototype space-aware hearing aid by listening to the dummy heads’ ears through headphones, and control the device by switching between the algorithms. Furthermore, by means of visualizations it will be possible to monitor specific features, such as the DOA estimation.

The Space-Aware Hearing AidIntegrating advances in hearing aid technology in a mobile real-time research device

Contact PersonDr. Kamil AdilogluResearch & DevelopmentHörTech gGmbH



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About HörTech gGmbH

The Center of Competence HörTech, a non-profit organization located in Northern Ger-many and owned in part by the University of Oldenburg and led by Prof. Dr. Dr. Birger Kollmeier as scientific director, has a long standing expertise in the field of developing speech audiometric test procedures in various languages. The aims of this non-profit organisation are to support science and research and to develop new methods and expertise concerning hearing. Its efforts in basic research, which are widely renowned, have contributed to improvements in hearing aid technology. HörTech is based in the “House of Hearing“ in Oldenburg.

www.hoertech.de

About Hörzentrum Oldenburg GmbH

The Hörzentrum Oldenburg GmbH is a unique institution combining university, clinical and practical expertise regarding hearing impairments and their apparatus-based com-pensation. Specialists in physics, audiology, hearing aid acoustics, ENT medicine and information technology work at the Hörzentrum. Together they evaluate and optimize hearing aid technology on behalf of their industrial partners. The Department for Mar-ket and Effects Research is composed with applied research on the marketability of au-diological and acoustic products and basic research on fundamental acoustical effects.In addition working with patients is another core aspect of the work. As the initiator and constructor of the House of Hearing, which joins diverse Oldenburg institutions for hearing research, the Hörzentrum coordinates key activities. The House of Hearing made a vision become reality: A European center for hearing research combining basic research with the development and adjustment of hearing aids. It is a place where ins-titutions are united to benefit the hearing impaired.

www.hoerzentrum-oldenburg.de

About Fraunhofer Institute for Digital media Technology IDMTProject Group Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology

The goal of the Project Group for Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology of the Fraun-hofer IDMT is to implement scientific findings on auditory perception of normal and impaired hearing in technological applications. Scientists carry out applied research and development on behalf of industrial companies and public institutions in the fields of telecommunications, multimedia, health and care services, smart homes and smart cities, automotive, civil security and industrial production.The project group was established in Oldenburg in 2008 under the directionof Prof. Dr. Dr. Birger Kollmeier and Dr. Jens-E. Appell as a branch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT. Through scientific cooperations, it has close links with the hearing research facilities in Oldenburg and is also a partner in the cluster of excellence »Hearing4all«.

www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/en/hsa.html

About Hearing4all

Goal of the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all is literally improved hearing experience for all – all people, all situations, at all times. We are working on improving audiological diagnostics, and developing improved rehabilitative strategies based on that. Our work focusses on fundamental, model-based research for diagnostics and auditory profi-ling of human hearing, be it normal hearing or even severely impaired. Using a model-based approach enables us to individualize treatment of hearing loss with adequate hearing instruments, adapting to individual needs and to the acoustic environment.

www.hearing4all.eu


Haus des Hörens, Marie-Curie-Str. 2, 26129 Oldenburg, Tel. +49 441-2172 200, [email protected]

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CLUSTER OF EXCELLENCE IN THE

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company showcase & barbecue...dr. thomas wittkop 17.15 open demonstration session: see, feel and...

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