The Intelligibility of Processed Helium Speech at Diving Depths Greater Than 1000 Feet

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intelligibility for a helium speech unscrambler undergoing development by the Admiralty Research Laboratory, Teddington, England. Tapes of divers reading sentence lists at three depths in a helium-rich environment were played to listening panels, consisting of fifteen members each. Fifty words within each sentence list were chosen for evaluation. The overall mean intelligibility scores for two divers at 1250 and 1500 feet and one diver at 1250 feet was 92.2 percent. The average score at the deepest depth was slightly lower than 1050 feet. For the limited conditions evaluated, the unscrambler appeared to operate effectively. Additional evaluation under various conditions using standardized intelligibility test material is necessary to determine the overall applicability and effectiveness of this device.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 17, 1972
Accession Number
AD0749320

Entities

People

  • Thomas Murry

Organizations

  • Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheres
  • Biomedical Research
  • Communication Systems
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Intelligibility
  • Materials
  • Military Research
  • Navy
  • Psychology
  • Psychophysiology
  • Recording Systems
  • Sea Water
  • Speech
  • Speech Transmission
  • Tape Recorders
  • Water

Readers

  • Speech Processing/Speech Recognition.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Underwater engineering and Marine Technology.