Evaluation of Objective Speech Intelligibility Metrics for Hearing-Aid Users in Multi-Talker Spatial Environments

Delebecque L, Arz JP, Ducourneau J, Serizel R. Evaluation of Objective Speech Intelligibility Metrics for Hearing-Aid Users in Multi-Talker Spatial Environments. In: Express Paper. Audio Engineering Society; 2026. Paper 424. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23257

@inproceedings{Delebecque2026_23257,
  author = {Delebecque, Louis and Arz, Jean-Pierre and Ducourneau, Joël and Serizel, Romain},
  title = {{Evaluation of Objective Speech Intelligibility Metrics for Hearing-Aid Users in Multi-Talker Spatial Environments}},
  note = {Paper 424},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23257}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Evaluation of Objective Speech Intelligibility Metrics for Hearing-Aid Users in Multi-Talker Spatial Environments
AU  - Delebecque, Louis
AU  - Arz, Jean-Pierre
AU  - Ducourneau, Joël
AU  - Serizel, Romain
M1  - Paper 424
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/28
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23257
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - Despite the growing number of hearing-impaired workers, understanding speech in multi-talker environments remains a significant challenge even when utilizing modern hearing-aids. This difficulty is particularly pronounced in open-plan offices, where room reverberation tends to degrade speech intelligibility. While spatial cues are vital for segregating target speech from competing sources, both hearing-aid signal processing and hearing impairment can alter binaural information that supports spatial hearing. This study evaluates the ability of objective speech intelligibility metrics to predict performance for hearing-aid users in complex, office-like spatial scenarios. Subjective listening tests were conducted with 21 hearing-impaired participants fitted with binaural hearing-aids. Four spatial configurations were tested, ranging from symmetric diffuse noise to asymmetric setups with localized competing talkers. Concurrently, objective measurements were performed using an acoustic manikin. We computed the Hearing Aid Speech Perception Index (HASPI), the Short-Time Objective Intelligibility (STOI) and the Modified Binaural Short-Time Objective Intelligibility (MBSTOI) in combination with a hearing loss simulator. The analysis focused on comparing predicted scores against subjective word recognition results. Results indicate that the better-ear STOI metric used with the hearing loss simulator provided the most accurate predictions. MBSTOI failed to offer a predictive advantage in asymmetric scenes, suggesting its equalization cancellation stage may not accurately reflect the reduced spatial unmasking experienced by hearing-impaired listeners. While the metrics performed reliably in simple symmetric environments, their performance dropped significantly in complex multi-talker scenes. These findings highlight a need for refined objective metrics that better account for the degraded spatial perception inherent in hearing-impaired populations.
ER  -