[Quietcars] An interesting perspective from someone off list.

[Robert Wilson]

Hi,

One of the reasons I prefer a 'click' for an audio alert, a square wave, is they are a broad spectrum source. They have harmonics that range across the audio range and do not monopolize the audio band. Within a one second interval, each click, a small fraction of the second, allows more audio sources to work with out stepping on each other.

In contrast, as pointed at the June 23 hearing, a pure tone is easily lost in the background noise and takes substantially more energy to detect. Worse, they can step on each other making source detection more difficult. Adding a second tone is less bad and one of the reasons pure tones are not used in many alarm systems.

Bob Wilson

> Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010 08:56:33 -0400
> From: mrtownsend at optonline.net
> To: quietcars at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Quietcars] An interesting perspective from someone off list.
> 
> I was chatting with a friend of mine who works a Seeing Eye dog in Kentucky.
> He has cochlear implants, and he's a "reborn" traveler, if you will, because
> of this surgery that has enhanced his hearing.  
> 
> After looking at some of the ideas I'd suggested and some of the ideas that
> have been put forth on list, he shares the following as a person who is both
> blind and has a hearing loss:
> 
> "I think that a hybrid should make a midrange noise. People who lose partial
> hearing usually lose the high frequencies first, followed by the lows. The
> midrange is generally intact. Perhaps, the noise of a hybrid should be a bit
> like a regular internal combustion engine, but a little higher and smoother.
> 
> I really like the idea of making turn signals audible outside of the
> vehicle. That would be a clicking, making it easier to discern turning
> traffic. For backing, I would have the pitch go from higher to lower. For
> stopping, the sound would be softer, enough to know that the car is on, but
> not enough to mute other traffic sounds."
> Has anyone else any ideas as a person who works with a hearing loss and
> travels, and who is either a cane traveler or a dog guide user?  It would be
> interesting to hear what you have to say.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Mike T
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> "I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself...but I think
> I have
> a right to resent, to object to, libelous statements about my dog."
> -Franklin D. Roosevelt
> Mike Townsend and Seeing Eye dog Brent
> Dunellen, New Jersey  08812
> emails:  mrtownsend at optonline.net; 
> michael.townsend54 at gmail.com
> Home Phone:  732  200-5643
> Cellular:  732  718-9480
>  
> 
> 
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