Professorship for Hearing Technology and Acoustics
The "Chair for Hearing Technology and Acoustics" examines sound processing techniques in the human hearing system.
The goal of the Chair for Hearing Technology and Acoustics is to expand interdisciplinary research in the field of perception and processing of sound in complex acoustic environments for different listeners. These range from children to the elderly with and without auditory hearing and processing disorders. This research is directly related to social and cognitive aspects and communication and is therefore an important part of our daily life.
We examine perception and communication in complex acoustic scenarios, for example noise exposure in classroom situations or in open-plan offices. This is of major importance both for the hearing-aid technology and for cognitive psychological processes.
By means of experiments with the aid of computer-generated acoustic virtual reality (3D-audio, VR, spatial audio) it specifically examines the effects on the perception, recognition and understanding of speech and language. Spatial hearing and together with that the ability to localize sound sources as well as to separate and understand sources in neurological processes can be traced back to binaural hearing (perception with both ears).
A focal point of the research work is to use binaural technology to generate artificial scenarios at the ear of the test participants as realistically as possible. In JARA-BRAIN the focus is on scenario modeling and reproduction technology in visualization processes. We develop models and algorithms for audio systems and sound experiments, in order to be able to examine acoustic perception and its processing by children and adults in complex sound scenarios. This knowledge will open up new possibilities in the develeopment and improvement of hearing aids.
Furthermore, the professorship focuses on the generation, propagation and mitigation of sound. In this context, measurement techniques and simulation technologies are developed to explore the physics of complex acoustic scenarios, but also for computer-aided generation of acoustic scenarios using acoustic virtual reality. Acoustic phenomena and processes are of interest when applied to machines and technical processes.
The content of our lectures and courses comprises topics of medical acoustics, psycho acoustics, audiological acoustics, binaural technology, ultrasonic sound, speech, voice, hearing and noise.