Research on Speech Processing for Military Avionics

The Biological Acoustics Branch of the Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory (AAMRL) is engaged in research in a number of speech related areas. This paper will describe the approach used to conduct research in the development and evaluation of military speech communication systems, mention the types of studies done using this approach and give examples of the types of data generated by these studies. Representative data will also be provided describing acoustic-phonetic changes that occur when speech is produced under acceleration.

Enhancing Operator Acceptance and Nonintereference in Secondary Task Measures of Workload

A serious disadvantage of many available secondary task measures of operator workload is that they are difficult to employ during later stages of system design and evaluation. Common problems with traditional laboratory tasks include poor operator acceptance and the potential for intrusion on primary tasks. Two methods designed to overcome these limitations are being investigated at the Air Force Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory. In order to improve integration of the measurement task with the operator's duties, realistic aircraft radio communications activities have been developed as secondary tasks. Analytical and subjective methods have been employed to develop communications tasks with scaled workload values. A second project has focused on further development of the interval production task as a workload metric. This task has minimal response requirements and appears to act as an index of load rather than a reserve capacity test.