Using multichannel communication systems to observe selective and divided attention
Misty Gripper, Tomasz R. Letowski, Tim Mermagen · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2007
The objectives of this study are to compare the effectiveness of bone- and air-conduction radio communication while listening to natural auditory signals through air conduction and to assess the feasibility of using a mixed bone- and air-conduction system for multichannel radio communication. There are many benefits to both air-conducted and bone-conducted systems, but little research on combining the two into one radio system. The goal of the study is to explore this possibility. The SATASK test developed at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory is used to observe human capabilities to distribute attention across multiple channel communication systems. This test consists of sentences structured as follows: NAME write the number NUMBER on the COLOR OBJECT. Five different multichannel communication systems (three three-channel and two four-channel systems) consisting of various combinations of air-conducted earphones, bone-conducted vibrators, and an array of loudspeakers are used for data collection. Each channel presents different sentences in different voices. Listeners are given a target name and they are to record the corresponding information associated with that name (selective attention) or they are to record information from all channels (divided attention). The results of the study will be discussed at the meeting.