Binaural Directivity Patterns for Normal and Aided Human Hearing

OBJECTIVE:The aim of this brief report was to investigate binaural directivity patterns for normal and aided hearing, as opposed to conventional monaural measures. DESIGN:Head-related transfer functions for an artificial head measured at the entrance to the ear canal and above the pinnae and a binaural loudness model for directional sounds were used to estimate binaural directivity patterns for normal human hearing and behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing devices in the horizontal plane. RESULTS:The results show that binaural directivity patterns are smoother than the corresponding monaural patterns, and that there are clear frequency-dependent differences in binaural directivity between the two measurement positions. CONCLUSION:The data can be used in the signal processing of BTE hearing aid systems to mimic the binaural directivity of normal, unoccluded ears.