Correlation of Laboratory-Based Hearing Protection Evaluation Methods with Human Performance
Abstract
Military personnel require hearing protection for a wide variety of environments and the current method of selecting appropriate hearing protection devices (HPDs) is based largely on guesswork. Only the Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) is used as a standard HPD specification; other important characteristics of advanced HPDs are not evaluated or reported in a standardized manner. The primary objective of this effort is to verify electromechanical test methods for evaluation of advanced HPDs to reduce stakeholders' long-term dependence on time-consuming and expensive human subject testing. A second objective of this effort is to develop a software tool using these verified HPD performance metrics to enable mission planners and Warfighters to select HPDs appropriate to support specific mission profiles, thereby optimizing Warfighter performance. In Year 1 of this program the human subject evaluation protocols and associated instrumentation were developed and approved. Electromechanical test apparatus were refined in preparation for evaluation of a broad set of HPDs. Development of the software tool was initiated to support determination of a transition path. In Year 2, electromechanical and human subject measurements will be performed on an array of HPDs and compared before inclusion within the software tool database. In Year 3, comparisons of electromechanical and human subject data were reduced to metrics for each characteristic.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1210809
Entities
People
- Alexandria Podolski
- Andrew W. Brown
- Aoi Hunsaker
- Carol Sammeth
- David J. Audet
- Greg Rule
- Kiersten Reeser
- Kyndall Tatum
- Mark Espinoza
- Nathanial T. Greene
- Santino Cozza
- Theodore Argo
Organizations
- Applied Research Associates (United States)
- University of Colorado School of Medicine
- University of Minnesota Duluth
- University of Washington