Uncomfortable sound pressure evaluation system, uncomfortable sound pressure evaluation apparatus, uncomfortable sound pressure adjustment apparatus, uncomfortable sound pressure evaluation method, and computer program thereof

An uncomfortable sound pressure evaluation system comprising:

• a measurement section configured to measure an electroencephalogram signal of a user;
• an output section configured to present a sound stimulation group to the user, the sound stimulation group including a first sound, a second sound, and a third sound which are pure tones of a same frequency and which consecutively decrease in sound pressure within a predetermined range;
• an extraction section configured to extract a characteristic amount concerning time frequency information of event-related potential from the electroencephalogram signal in a predetermined zone defined based on a point of presenting each of the first sound, the second sound, and the third sound as a starting point;
• an estimation section configured to estimate, based on the extracted characteristic amount, an uncomfortable sound pressure corresponding to the frequency;
• a maximum uncomfortable sound pressure determination section configured to determine, based on a hearing threshold value of the user, a maximum uncomfortable sound pressure of the user corresponding to the frequency;
• and
• a correction section configured to correct the uncomfortable sound pressure to the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure and to output the corrected uncomfortable sound pressure if the estimated uncomfortable sound pressure is higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure, and to output the estimated uncomfortable sound pressure if the estimated uncomfortable sound pressure is equal to or lower than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure.

An uncomfortable sound pressure adjustment apparatus for use in an uncomfortable sound pressure evaluation system,

• the uncomfortable sound pressure evaluation system including an output section configured to consecutively present a plurality of sound stimulation groups to a user, each sound stimulation group including at least one sound stimulation, and the sound stimulation groups differing in frequency from one another, the uncomfortable sound pressure adjustment apparatus comprising:
• an extraction section configured to receive from a measurement section which measures an electroencephalogram signal of the user the electroencephalogram signal, and for each sound stimulation group, to extract information concerning event-related potential from the electroencephalogram signal in a predetermined zone defined based on a point of presenting the at least one sound stimulation as a starting point;
• an estimation section configured to estimate an uncomfortable sound pressure of the user from the information concerning event-related potential against a predefined criterion;
• a storage section configured to store a predefined maximum uncomfortable sound pressure;
• and
• a correction section configured to determine whether the estimated uncomfortable sound pressure is higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure or not, and if, among determination results across all of the plurality of sound stimulation groups, a proportion of those determination results which indicate the uncomfortable sound pressure to be higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure is smaller than predetermined, correcting each uncomfortable sound pressure determined as higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure to a sound pressure equal to or less than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure.

An uncomfortable sound pressure evaluation method comprising the steps of:

• receiving from a measurement section which measures an electroencephalogram signal of a user the electroencephalogram signal;
• consecutively presenting a plurality of sound stimulation groups to the user, each sound stimulation group including at least one sound stimulation, and the sound stimulation groups differing in frequency from one another;
• for each sound stimulation group, extracting information concerning event-related potential from the electroencephalogram signal in a predetermined zone defined based on a point of presenting the at least one sound stimulation as a starting point;
• estimating an uncomfortable sound pressure of the user from the information concerning event-related potential against a predefined criterion;
• and
• determining whether the estimated uncomfortable sound pressure is higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure or not, and if, among determination results across all of the plurality of sound stimulation groups, a proportion of those determination results which indicate the uncomfortable sound pressure to be higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure is smaller than predetermined, correcting each uncomfortable sound pressure determined as higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure to a sound pressure equal to or less than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having thereon a computer program to be executed by a computer mounted in an uncomfortable sound pressure evaluation apparatus,

• wherein the computer program causes the computer to execute the steps of:
• receiving from a measurement section which measures an electroencephalogram signal of a user the electroencephalogram signal;
• consecutively presenting a plurality of sound stimulation groups to the user, each sound stimulation group including at least one sound stimulation, and the sound stimulation groups differing in frequency from one another;
• for each sound stimulation group, extracting information concerning event-related potential from the electroencephalogram signal in a predetermined zone defined based on a point of presenting the at least one sound stimulation as a starting point;
• estimating an uncomfortable sound pressure of the user from the information concerning event-related potential against a predefined criterion;
• and
• determining whether the estimated uncomfortable sound pressure is higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure or not, and if, among determination results across all of the plurality of sound stimulation groups, a proportion of those determination results which indicate the uncomfortable sound pressure to be higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure is smaller than predetermined, correcting each uncomfortable sound pressure determined as higher than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure to a sound pressure equal to or less than the maximum uncomfortable sound pressure.