ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Speech intelligibility assessment in a helium environment | JoVE Visualize

Home
Research Domains
Engineering

Speech intelligibility assessment in a helium environment

L L Mendel¹, B W Hamill, L J Crepeau

¹Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Mississippi, University 38677.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America|January 1, 1995

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This study evaluated speech perception tests for Navy divers using helium speech unscramblers (HSUs). Both tests showed similar effectiveness, with context aiding performance on the SPIN test.

Area of Science:

Audiology
Speech-Language Pathology
Diving Medicine

Background:

Helium speech poses challenges for communication systems, particularly for divers.
Evaluating speech intelligibility in noisy, complex environments is crucial for operational safety.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the Speech Perception In Noise (SPIN) test and the Griffiths version of the Modified Rhyme Test (GMRT) for assessing Navy divers' speech understanding.
To evaluate the effectiveness of two different helium speech unscramblers (HSUs) in enhancing speech intelligibility.

Main Methods:

Divers and non-divers were tested using SPIN and GMRT with audio recordings from two HSUs.
Two listening conditions were used: taped (topside-diver) and live-voice (diver-diver).

Main Results:

Mean scores on SPIN and GMRT were nearly identical across conditions.
Speech perception was better in the topside-diver condition compared to the diver-diver condition.
No significant difference was found between the two HSUs, though a trend favored one.

Conclusions:

Both SPIN and GMRT are appropriate for assessing speech understanding in Navy divers with HSUs.
Contextual information significantly impacts speech perception, especially for the SPIN test.
Further research is needed to optimize HSU performance for underwater communication.

Communications Engineering

Signal Processing

Speech Intelligibility Assessment In A Helium Environment