Computerized intonator: design of a microprocessor pitch-aid

Many profoundly hearing-impaired individuals that use hearing-aid devices suffer from poor auditory capacity, and therefore mainly rely on speechreading information. Previous studies suggest that presenting signals carrying prosodic information has great potential for improving speechreading. The authors present the computerized intonator, which is a microprogrammed acoustic pitch-aid device that provides the user in real-time with the fundamental frequency modulated by the amplitude envelope. The device implementation provides maximum flexibility for designing the output stimuli to suit individual needs. The benefit of the device is presently being evaluated using the connected discourse tracking test