Tim Kridel speaks to Kevin Stoner from conference and interpretation systems provider Media Vision to find out what can be done to support people with hearing loss.
TK: What are some marketplace trends driving assistive-listening systems and other AV solutions for those with hearing loss? For example, are there any verticals where demand is particularly high or increasing? If so, what’s driving that demand? I would think that higher education is one partly because a lot of college students damaged their hearing as teenagers with MP3 players and because a lot of older adults have gone back to school after losing their jobs in the recession. KS: As you are aware ALS (Assistive Listening Systems) have been around for some time now in many different technology flavours. The trend now, especially in Europe, seems to be loop systems that on the surface seem simple and inexpensive. Ultimately, however, they are very labour intensive and require some major infrastructure changes and engineering expertise to make them effective as an assistive listening solution. Infrared is a great technology to avoid interferences when assistive listening devices must be used in multiple adjacent rooms, however the solution comes at a higher price. The initial technology RF is still a great solution for most applications and venues. It’s used in Houses of Worship to stadiums and everything in between. The solution is inexpensive and very effective.
Many of the systems we are providing allow for, and are required by our customers to provide, an assistive listen port that gives the listener access directly to the audio being distributed. By doing this we are providing a much greater SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) so that those with greater hearing loss get more of what they want to hear without all of the noise getting in the way. Whether corporate, higher education, city government or international organisation, we find that they all have higher expectations with regards to what they want to hear and how they hear it. I am not certain that a market is being defined as much by the loss of hearing, but more from a higher expectation from the user with regards to the experience they are going to receive through their audio source.
TK: What are some tips for improving speech intelligibility? Are there any common mistakes that you see, and if so, how can they be avoided? KS: Getting a microphone closer to the audio source is always going to add to intelligibility. Encouraging venues to provide solutions that offer assistive listening devices and conform to ADA standards give the user a better experience and allow them to take more from the overall experience.
All of our conferencing products, from the very basic discussion system to the video monitor options, offer the user a mic jack (and in some units two in fact) to be used for interpretation or for assistive listening. It is our goal to increase speech intelligibility by getting the mic closer, providing an on board local speaker and the ability to listen directly from a port on the unit itself.
We work with some really great integrators and consultants that really understand that when designing a room or a venue it is important to consider how the user will experience the audio piece of what is being offered. The biggest mistake we see is allowing audio to become something that is not designed in from the beginning and therefore doesn’t allow for the best experience. Drop down boundary microphones and table units capture the speech, but with that comes a high level of noise. When our clients experience this the most is when they are using VTC (Video Teleconferencing) and the far end is the recipient of noisy audio. This make for less productive meetings and frustrated participants.
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