Eric Carmichel

This acoustical detection and alerting device leverages the patented features of the Sound Detection & Alerting System (US Patent 7,315,244). See "Patents" section above for further information. Please note that the description does not attempt to be comprehensive. Contact Cochlear Concepts, LLC for licensing options regarding this device.

Data acquistion (DAQ) systems tailored for research applications often require special hardware in order to interface with (for example) LabVIEW or Simulink. Furthermore, response boxes designated for human interface often consist of awkward keyboards or mice--neither of which is intuitive or ergonomic.
Solution: My DAQ system interfaces with popular digital audio workstation (DAW) software (e.g. Steinberg Nuendo, Avid Pro Tools, Cakewalk SONAR) and can automate both audio and video stimuli… Show more

Data acquistion (DAQ) systems tailored for research applications often require special hardware in order to interface with (for example) LabVIEW or Simulink. Furthermore, response boxes designated for human interface often consist of awkward keyboards or mice--neither of which is intuitive or ergonomic.
Solution: My DAQ system interfaces with popular digital audio workstation (DAW) software (e.g. Steinberg Nuendo, Avid Pro Tools, Cakewalk SONAR) and can automate both audio and video stimuli presentation as well as record responses (location, time) using custom-built and ergonomic human-interface controllers. The design also permits the automation of forced-choice testing: When using this method of testing, continuous (real-time) presentation of A-V stimuli pauses when a research participant doesn't respond to a stimulus within a specified time frame--this is necessary so that subsequent stimuli are not presented before the participant's response is time-stamped for the current stimuli, thus muddling response times associated with current and subsequent stimuli. Using DAW software allows multi-track audio plus video to be presented without need for file format conversion or special DAQ or dynamic signal acquisition (DSA) hardware. Human and computer interface devices are custom-tailored for research, and these devices are much more intuitive to use than awkward keyboards and mice. Show less

Problem: Not all noises or noise-induced hearing losses apply to an OSHA-type population. Furthermore, conventional protocols for measuring sound pressure level (SPL) or Leq do not accurately depict the dangers of blast noise.
Solution: To overcome limitations of sound level meters (SLMs) and measurement protocols, I devised a unique method of measuring Peak Pressure Level (PPL) in dB and Pascal for various firearms, to include shotguns, handguns, and sporting arm rifles (data appears in… Show more

Problem: Not all noises or noise-induced hearing losses apply to an OSHA-type population. Furthermore, conventional protocols for measuring sound pressure level (SPL) or Leq do not accurately depict the dangers of blast noise.
Solution: To overcome limitations of sound level meters (SLMs) and measurement protocols, I devised a unique method of measuring Peak Pressure Level (PPL) in dB and Pascal for various firearms, to include shotguns, handguns, and sporting arm rifles (data appears in Wikipedia). My data, combined with patients' audiograms and acoustical modeling, has been used to assess hearing damage resulting from exposure to blast noise. Show less

It has been shown that binaural electronic hearing protectors affect localization accuracy (Carmichel, Harris, and Story, 2007) . Although judgments of sound-source direction were not ambiguous (based on response time), they were often in error. Testing was performed in a background of continuous noise while presenting one stimulus at a time. In the real world, we are surrounded by concurrent sounds reaching us from multiple directions. Creating such sounds in a virtual listening environment is… Show more

It has been shown that binaural electronic hearing protectors affect localization accuracy (Carmichel, Harris, and Story, 2007) . Although judgments of sound-source direction were not ambiguous (based on response time), they were often in error. Testing was performed in a background of continuous noise while presenting one stimulus at a time. In the real world, we are surrounded by concurrent sounds reaching us from multiple directions. Creating such sounds in a virtual listening environment is not a simple matter of providing surround sound, as the physical recreation of the acoustical waves in such environments does not correlate with perceptual judgments of "accuracy". In order to assess hearing protectors, physically-accurate acoustical re-creation of listening scenarios are needed. This study focuses on assessing the physical accuracy of acoustical holography, wavefield reconstruction, first-order ambisonics (FOA) and high-order ambisonics (HOA). Show less

Hearing protectors help prevent hearing loss, but they can preclude workers' ability to hear important alarm signals or speech communication. Electronic hearing protectors provide amplification to softer sounds while providing protection against potentially damaging sounds; however, research has shown (Carmichel E, Harris F, Story B, 2007) that even binaural (stereo) electronic hearing protectors skew wearers' ability to accurately determine a sound's direction. This inability to determine… Show more

Hearing protectors help prevent hearing loss, but they can preclude workers' ability to hear important alarm signals or speech communication. Electronic hearing protectors provide amplification to softer sounds while providing protection against potentially damaging sounds; however, research has shown (Carmichel E, Harris F, Story B, 2007) that even binaural (stereo) electronic hearing protectors skew wearers' ability to accurately determine a sound's direction. This inability to determine sound-source direction is of particular concern for law enforcement and military personnel.
Solution: Our new hearing protector design (intellectual property protection underway) utilizes analog and digital filtering (phase and frequency-specific) and strategically placed microphone arrays to emulate pinnae and head transfer functions in real time. This strategy allows for more accurate localization accuracy (3D), not just lateralization (L-R) accuracy, when compared to conventional binaural electronic hearing protectors. Show less

This (abridged) news article was written by Edina A.T. Strum: In space, astronauts are constantly trying to re-orient themselves because compass directions lose all meaning. "Humans weren't meant to think in three-dimensions," said Bruce McNaughton, psychology professor and project researcher. Space sickness is part of life for astronauts and is caused when the vestibular region of the inner ear loses the normal directional cues, which gravity and two-dimensional space provide, said Eric… Show more

This (abridged) news article was written by Edina A.T. Strum: In space, astronauts are constantly trying to re-orient themselves because compass directions lose all meaning. "Humans weren't meant to think in three-dimensions," said Bruce McNaughton, psychology professor and project researcher. Space sickness is part of life for astronauts and is caused when the vestibular region of the inner ear loses the normal directional cues, which gravity and two-dimensional space provide, said Eric Carmichel, an intern at the hearing clinic, a division of the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences. Carmichel said sensors in the inner ear are floating in fluids that respond to changes in movement. When people turn their heads, the fluid sways the sensors in the direction of the motion - telling the brain which way they are going. The zero-gravity environment of space disrupts this internal guidance system by allowing astronauts to change direction without turning their heads, McNaughton said. This is possible because, in space, astronauts can move by pitching (floating) instead of turning their heads side-to-side as we do on Earth, he said. In an effort to combat problems with spatial orientation, the UA's Neural Systems, Memory and Aging research lab, NSMA, teamed with NASA two years ago to study the navigational systems in the brain, McNaughton said. The research involves monitoring the brain patterns of rats "to figure out what logic the brain uses to navigate," said Doug Nitz, a post-doctoral researcher at the lab. The rats are surgically fitted with a cap containing groups of four wires, each no thicker than a human hair, that are lowered into the brain to record the firing pattern of the cells, he said. Show less