Title :
Efficient perceptual tuning of hearing aids with genetic algorithms
Author :
Durant, Eric A. ; Wakefield, Gregory H. ; Van Tasell, Dianne J. ; Rickert, Martin E.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Milwaukee Sch. of Eng., WI, USA
fDate :
3/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We describe a system for integrating a genetic algorithm (GA) with perceptual feedback to perform an efficient search in a perceptual space. The main system components are an efficient method for estimating perceptual rank order and genetic operators that take advantage of the types of parameters found in certain classes of audio processing systems. Preference judgments are used, resulting in a lightweight user interface. The application to subjectively fitting a portable hearing aid based solely on binary feedback is discussed. An experiment was conducted using eight normal and eight hearing impaired subjects. Three parameters were varied to control cancellation of acoustic feedback. The GA worked well for fitting this system, as indicated by both objective and subjective measures. In addition, users had greatly differing preferences for feedback cancellation parameters and these preferences did not change much when subjects were retested.
Keywords :
audio signal processing; genetic algorithms; hearing; hearing aids; parameter estimation; acoustic feedback; audio processing systems; control cancellation; genetic algorithms; genetic operators; hearing aids; lightweight user interface; perceptual feedback; perceptual rank estimation; perceptual space; perceptual tuning; Acoustic measurements; Auditory system; Feedback; Genetic algorithms; Hearing aids; Optimization methods; Response surface methodology; Robustness; Surface fitting; User interfaces;
Journal_Title :
Speech and Audio Processing, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TSA.2003.822640