Effects of Spatial Intercoms and Active Noise Reduction Headsets on Speech Intelligibility in an AWACS Environment

Abstract

An experiment was conducted aboard an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft to assess the ability of spatial intercoms and active noise reduction (ANR) headsets to improve communications effectiveness for air battle managers. Eleven male participants completed four blocks of data collection using the Coordinate Response Measure under factorial combinations of spatialization, ANR, and target phrase location. Results indicate that the use of a spatial intercom led to greater intelligibility, and that ANR improved intelligibility only when used in combination with a spatial intercom. These results are discussed in terms of their applicability to current and future USAF application domains.