Augmenting the Hearing of Safety-Critical Sounds for Highway Workers Using Artificial Intelligence

Highway construction workers are regularly exposed to loud and complex noise environments from equipment, tools, and nearby traffic. While hearing protection equipment (HPE) is essential for preventing hearing loss, it often blocks important warning sounds—such as backup alarms or vehicle intrusion alerts—that are vital for worker safety. T

The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's NCHRP IDEA Final Report for Project 247: Augmenting the Hearing of Safety-Critical Sounds for Highway Workers Using Artificial Intelligence explores and demonstrates a novel solution: a wearable, AI-augmented hearing protection device (AI-AHP) capable of selectively filtering sound in real time.