Audition Technology, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Mil Med. 2021 Jan 25;186(Suppl 1):709-715. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usaa307.
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is a growing public health concern in the USA and globally because of the emergence of lifestyle preferences and environmental exposures to sound levels exceeding safe listening limits for extended periods of time. In the military, hearing and communication are important for survival and the Department of Defense's Hearing Center of Excellence highlights the importance of protection from NIHL. Issuance of the World health organization safe audio listening standards along with existing U.S. federal and military standards provides a framework for developing an accessible tool for promoting safe listening.
An App is being proposed for an aggregated assessment of a user's daily sound exposure, through personal audio system and ambient sources and providing tools for managing personal sound exposures. The key elements for development of App features were integration of user voice for functionalities, computations based on global standards, including military, for safe listening and alignment with regulatory standards for Apps.
Features of the App are "Track" for audio and ambient exposures, "Compute" for real-time and cumulative exposures vs. safe listening standards, "Alert" for unsafe exposures using visual and haptic, "Inform" for personal exposures vs. safe dose, associated NIHL risk and education, "Choice" for alternatives that can be relatable to personal lifestyle, and "Share" for informing others as determined by the user. App safety is ensured by privacy and cybersecurity regulatory standards.
The overall goals of the App are to increase NIHL awareness and to empower users to improve personal listening behaviors that can potentially reduce the risk of NIHL.
噪声性听力损失（NIHL）是美国和全球日益严重的公共卫生问题，因为生活方式偏好的出现以及长时间暴露于超过安全听力限制的环境声音中。在军队中，听力和通讯对于生存至关重要，国防部听力卓越中心强调了保护免受 NIHL 影响的重要性。世界卫生组织安全音频聆听标准的发布以及现有的美国联邦和军事标准为开发促进安全聆听的可访问工具提供了框架。
正在为用户的日常声音暴露提出一个应用程序的聚合评估，通过个人音频系统和环境声音，并提供管理个人声音暴露的工具。应用程序功能开发的关键要素是集成用户声音功能、基于全球标准（包括军事标准）的计算，以实现安全聆听以及与应用程序监管标准的对齐。
应用程序的功能包括“跟踪”音频和环境暴露、“计算”实时和累积暴露与安全聆听标准的比较、“警报”用于使用视觉和触觉的不安全暴露、“告知”个人暴露与安全剂量、相关的 NIHL 风险和教育、“选择”与个人生活方式相关的替代方案，以及“共享”根据用户确定的信息共享。应用程序的安全性通过隐私和网络安全监管标准得到保证。
应用程序的总体目标是提高对 NIHL 的认识，并赋予用户改善个人听力行为的能力，从而有可能降低 NIHL 的风险。
