Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2022 - 37

Software
Statistical Audibility Prediction Algorithm
The technology has several potential applications including noise management, sound
engineering, and communication devices.
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
P
redicting the extent that one sound
is heard over another is difficult, yet
could help engineers to better design
for sound management. Innovators at
the NASA Langley Research Center
and the National Institute of Aerospace
(NIA) have developed an algorithm for
Statistical Audibility Prediction (SAP)
of an arbitrary signal in the presence of
noise. The SAP algorithm compares the
loudness of signal and noise samples at
matching time instances to assess audibility
versus time.
This work investigated a new hypothesis
that audibility is more accurately
discerned within individual auditory filters
by a higher-level, decision-making
process. Audibility prediction vs. time is
intuitive since it captures changes in audibility
with time as it occurs, critical for
the study of human response to noise.
Concurrently, time-frequency prediction
of audibility may provide valuable
information about the root cause(s) for
audibility useful for the design and operation
of sources of noise. Empirical
data, gathered under a three-alternative
forced-choice (3AFC) test paradigm for
low-frequency sound, has been used to
examine the accuracy of SAPs.
The algorithm has been tested using
subject response data gathered in the
Exterior Effects Room (EER) at NASA
LARC. Future work should involve additional
studies to examine the performance
of SAP with realistic ambient
noise and signals with higher-frequency
content. The continued development of
this algorithm could allow engineers to
suppress how we hear noise relative to
sounds of interest.
The technology has several potential
applications including noise management,
sound engineering, transportation
vehicles (e.g., aircraft, rotorcraft,
drones, unmanned aerial vehicles,trucks,
automobiles, trains, buses, etc.), as well
as communication devices (e.g., phones,
alarms, etc.) and hearing aids.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at
Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
discussions. For more information, visit
https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
LAR-TOPS-360.
How Virtual, Cloud-Based Technologies Are Powering the
Next Industrial Revolution
On-premises data centers give way to virtual solutions.
Grid Raster, Mountain View, CA
C
ompanies in many industries, including
technology,
construction, and
healthcare are completely revamping
the way in which their manufacturing
arms are designing, building, producing,
and servicing the goods they need
for projects and customers.
Just a short five years ago these manufacturers
began to embark on the second
coming of their own industrial revolution.
It wasn't enough that the
Internet and even mobile technology
created a wealth of efficiencies in the
production cycle.
Instead, these manufacturers began
to see how virtual technologies could
completely change the way they operated,
interacted with design teams, and
provided more timely response to customer
inquiries.
Gains in operations and customer service
as a result of virtual technologies have
Tech Briefs, December 2022
been quick to illustrate early and noticeable
returns for the executives running
these businesses.
In fact, nearly half of the executives
polled in a recent survey (44 percent) said
they are experiencing approximately 10
percent in operational savings by using immersive
mixed reality technologies in the
design, training, production, or customer
service areas of their business. A year ago,
only a quarter of businesses (26 percent)
were seeing similar results in savings.1
In terms of overall production efficiency,
45 percent of enterprises are seeing
at least a 10 percent increase in production
efficiency increases today, up
from only 11 percent a year ago.
However, these increases do not tell the
whole story. When these virtualized technologies
- such as augmented reality
(AR) and virtual reality (VR) - were initially
utilized by manufacturers they were
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leveraged in an on-premises environment.
However, today they are utilized in a cloud
environment, bringing even more efficiencies
and returns to the business.
The basic difference between cloud
and on-premises data is where it lives.
On-premises software and data are installed
locally, on a manufacturer's computers
and servers inside the actual facility,
whereas cloud software and data are
hosted on a server and accessible via a
web browser over the Internet.
On-premises infrastructures limit the
speed and scalability needed for today's
virtual designs, and it also limits the ability
to conduct knowledge sharing between organizations
that can be critical when designing
new products and understanding
the best way for virtual buildouts.
Manufacturers are overcoming these
limitations by leveraging cloud-based (or
remote server based) virtual platforms
37
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Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2022

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