title: Speech intelligibility prediction in reverberation: Towards an integrated model of speech transmission, spatial unmasking, and binaural de-reverberation.
abstract: Room acoustic indicators of intelligibility have focused on the effects of temporal smearing of speech by reverberation and masking by diffuse ambient noise. In the presence of a discrete noise source, these indicators neglect the binaural listener's ability to separate target speech from noise. Lavandier and Culling [(2010). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 127, 387-399] proposed a model that incorporates this ability but neglects the temporal smearing of speech, so that predictions hold for near-field targets. An extended model based on useful-to-detrimental (U/D) ratios is presented here that accounts for temporal smearing, spatial unmasking, and binaural de-reverberation in reverberant environments. The influence of the model parameters was tested by comparing the model predictions with speech reception thresholds measured in three experiments from the literature. Accurate predictions were obtained by adjusting the parameters to each room. Room-independent parameters did not lead to similar performances, suggesting that a single U/D model cannot be generalized to any room. Despite this limitation, the model framework allows to propose a unified interpretation of spatial unmasking, temporal smearing, and binaural de-reverberation.
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État, Laboratoire Génie Civil et Bâtiment, Rue M. Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Thibaud
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leclère
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État, Laboratoire Génie Civil et Bâtiment, Rue M. Audin, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavandier
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Culling
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000162:Acoustics; D005160:Facility Design and Construction / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test; D013997:Time Factors; D014732:Vibration; D014833:Voice Quality