Uses of RASTI to assess speech intelligibility

Now an IEC Standard, RASTI provides an objective physical method for assessing speech intelligibility under conditions of steady noise and/or reverberation. Continued growth of the technique's usefulness depends in part on four conditions: (a) users' ingenuity and willingness to find appropriate applications and to share results; (b) instrument manufacturers' ingenuity and willingness to provide new or enhanced features; (c) continued research by speech and hearing scientists extending applicability to new domains; and (d) rapid incorporation into standards. In this spirit the author highlights his experiences consulting with RASTI by discussing six projects undertaken over a 4‐year period: (1) a condominium clubhouse whose occupants complained of poor speech intelligibility unhelped by the sound system; (2) a major performing arts center in which RASTI scores were compared before and after changing the sound system in an effort to improve speech intelligibility; (3) SCIF (secret compartmentalized information facility) rooms in which RASTI was used for locating sound leaks, evaluating speech privacy, and setting masking noise levels; (4) headset evaluation; (5) assessment of automobile interior communication; and (6) an electronic countermeasures application rank ordering voice jammer effectiveness.