(PP107) Pandemic Communication Breakthrough with Clear Masks and Remote Microphone Technology

Abstract: Communication since the era of mask mandates has been particularly challenging due to the acoustic degradation and visual obstruction of face masks. Allowing access to visual cues using the ClearMask and improving auditory signal-to-noise ratio using the remote microphone technology have proven to significantly facilitate communication in background noise. Moreover, listeners’ confidence improved and their concentration decreased when the speaker employed these strategies. ClearMasks and remote microphone technology are strongly recommended for communication, especially in the presence of noise to facilitate communication and reduce pandemic-related stress.

Summary: 

Rationale / Purpose

Communication since the era of mask mandate has been particularly challenging due to the acoustic degradation and visual obstruction of face masks (Atcherson et al.,2021; Goldin et al,2020). Transparent masks have been shown to significantly benefit speech recognition in noise (Thibodeau et al.,2021). Additionally, improving signal-to-noise ratio using remote microphone technology has been historically proven to facilitate communication in background noise (Boothroyd, 2004; Wolfe et al., 2015). The effects of combining transparent mask and remote microphone technology on communication in the presence of noise were explored by addressing three research questions:

1. How was the auditory-visual speech recognition in noise when the speaker wore the ClearMask compared to that with the surgical mask and no mask?

2. How was auditory-visual speech recognition in noise with the use of remote microphone technology across the three listening conditions (no mask, ClearMask, and surgical mask) different from without it?

3. How were the subjective concentration effort and confidence rating when the participants received auditory-visual stimuli presented with a remote microphone with the ClearMask compared to the surgical mask?

Methods

The study was completed by 122 normal-hearing adults, ages 18 to 75. Auditory-visual speech recognition in noise was evaluated in a 40-minute online session using the Revised Speech in Noise Test (R-SPIN). Stimuli included videos of a woman speaking 20 sentences in each of the six conditions: no mask, surgical mask, and ClearMask with and without remote microphone technology. Sentences in the videos were calibrated to be presented at a -10 dB signal-to-noise ratio. Participants were requested to complete the study in a quiet room, on their personal devices, and use earphones or their hearing assistive technology for optimal acoustic reception. After each video, they were tasked to type in the last words of the spoken sentence. After the testing, participants rated their confidence and concentration in each condition on a Likert 5-point scale based on six videos of different Connected Speech Test passages recorded in the same setup.

Results

When the speaker wore a Clear Mask, the R-SPIN score (M=62.7%) was significantly better than that with a surgical mask (M=55.5%). However, the performance with either mask was not significantly comparable to the performance in the no mask condition (M=74.6%). With the use of remote microphone technology, R-SPIN scores in no mask, surgical mask, and ClearMask conditions significantly improved to 92.5%, 93.2%, and 93.8%, respectively. Similarly, subjective confidence with the ClearMask was significantly better than the surgical mask, and it significantly improved with the use of remote microphone technology to be comparable with either mask. Furthermore, concentration effort was significantly reduced with the use of remote microphone technology while being equally demanding when the speaker wore either mask.

Conclusions

The use of remote microphone technology and ClearMask provide significant improvement in audio-visual speech recognition in noise as well as listeners’ subjective confidence and concentration. For communication strategies to overcome noise and face masks, ClearMask and remote microphone technology are strongly recommended, especially for settings such as hospitals, workplaces, classrooms, and most currently important, public places during the COVID-19 pandemic.