Noise Session 1pnsa: Advanced Hearing Protection and Methods of Measurement Ii 1pnsa3. Supplemental Text Messaging for the Resolution of Auditory Overload

Military signal operators listen, transcribe, and respond to audio traffic over multiple audio channels, in high-level noise from vehicles and weapons . The messages typically overlap in time and may be difficult to disentangle. Two studies were carried out to determine the benefit of supplemental texting. Normal-hearing participants were tested in a mock up of a military command post. Brief messages were played simultaneously over a communications headset (dichotic) and a loudspeaker array, either in quiet or in a background of vehicle noise. The at-ear speech-to-noise ratio was 5 dB. Only those messages beginning with a pre-assigned call sign were encoded. Mean scores of 84% or better were observed for messages presented over the headset, although there was a clear right ear advantage in noise. Messages coming over the loudspeakers were more difficult to understand but a visual cue directing attention to the source of an incoming targeted message resulted in a significant improvement of 7%. Replacing audio messages over the loudspeakers in noise with visual or audiovisual presentations resulted in an improvement from 71% to 96% that did not negatively affect headset performance. The data suggest that texting is a viable option for communication in cases of degraded audio.