2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Compression processong of sound source from television broadcasting for the universal design

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23611020
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Design science
Research Institution	Kyushu University
Principal Investigator	SHIRAISHI Kimio 九州大学, 芸術工学研究科(研究院), 教授 (90187518)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	UEDA Kazuo 九州大学, 大学院芸術工学研究院, 准教授 (80254316)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	放送 / 高齢者 / 圧縮増幅 / ユニバーサルデザイン
Research Abstract	This study investigated effects of compression processing of sound sources from television broadcasting on listening in elderly people with mild hearing loss. The sound sources from television broadcasting were divided into four frequency bands, and then the signal of the each bandwidth was compressed with a different compression ratio. The processed signals were presented to the elderly people by a loudspeaker in an anechoic room. Some of the people evaluated that the processed signals with amplification of 6 dB above a frequency of 4 kHz were easier to listen to than the original signal. For the majority of the people, however, the processed signals did not improve listening as compared to the original signal. These results suggest that it might be difficult to apply compression processing of sound sources from television broadcasting for better listening in all elderly people.