Speaker
Description
Hearing device performance assessed via traditional Speech Reception Thresholds (SRT) may not fully reflect real-world communication effectiveness, as SRT measurements often occur in controlled, non-ecological conditions. To address this limitation, we introduce two novel methods for evaluating device benefit in realistic, dynamic communication environments that incorporate natural head movements and interactive social behavior using low-delay, interactive virtual audiovisual simulations. The first method employs two spatially separated, interleaved tracks of an adaptive sentence test under passive listening conditions, yielding SRT-based measures of device benefit. The second method directly assesses device benefit through interactive, free-form triadic conversations, measuring performance in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement. Results demonstrate that SNR-based performance metrics in naturalistic conversations are feasible and yield values comparable to those obtained from SRT testing. Importantly, input SNRs in free conversation can be systematically adjusted to reflect typical real-world speech communication environments, whereas adaptive SRT testing tends to produce unrealistically low SNRs. Furthermore, the inclusion of visual stimuli in the interleaved SRT paradigm promotes more natural participant movement and engagement, enhancing ecological validity. These findings suggest that integrating SNR and SRT measurements within complex, interactive virtual environments—where auditory and visual cues are synchronized with natural conversation—significantly improves the ecological validity of hearing device evaluation.