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mine if the effects are similar between indoor and outdoor environments.
Combined use
As can be seen in Fig. 1, the Dome Room, Distance Hall, and OpenEAR are contiguous spaces. The Distance Hall includes two sets of double exterior doors which open to OpenEAR. There is one set of double doors between the Distance Hall and the Dome Room, which are aligned with a set of double doors between the Distance Hall and OpenEAR. This permits the use of two or three of the research spaces simultaneously with line-of-sight between the spaces via the open doors. This flexibility creates a syner- gy among the spaces. For example, the combination of OpenEAR and the Distance Hall will enable evaluation of distance estimation and distance perception studies in indoor and outdoor spaces on the same day with the same lis- teners under the same conditions. The combination of all three indoor research spaces plus the outdoor research space will allow for simulations of complex listening environments to be conducted within the facility. Researchers can take advantage of this novel configuration flexibility to design more realistic, but still controlled, experiments.
Summary
The EAR is a unique and flexible research facility. The combination of the research spaces and capabilities is unmatched at any military, academic, or industrial facility
world-wide. The EAR complements existing research spaces available to the ART (which include three sound treated booths, a Tucker-Davis Technologies RoboArmTM for the measurement of the Head-Related Transfer Functions, a small anechoic chamber, and a reverberant chamber) for research in auditory perception and speech communication.
Infrastructure and instrument design and installation
The EAR facility was constructed under two contracts: infrastructure; and the selection, design and installation of hardware and software. A joint venture of Martinez International Corporation and Cadence, Inc. completed the infrastructure for the facility that was based on architectural and structural designs by Whitney, Bailey, Cox, and Magnani, LLC. The mechanical and electrical systems were designed by Gipe Associates, Inc., both of Towson, Maryland; and the acoustical design of the HVAC systems was accomplished by Miller, Beam & Pagnelli, Inc., of McLean, Virginia.
The contract for the instrumentation design and instal- lation was awarded to SPL Integrated Solutions (now AVI- SPL) of Columbia, Maryland. AVI-SPL, together with AuSIM, Inc. of Mountain View and Santa Clara, California developed the hardware and software solutions for the facili- ty based on ARL’s technical specifications. Each of the research spaces has unique features typical of high quality auditory research facilities.
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