The effects of hear-through augmented environmental noise on listener engagement with speech-based media

Adjustable hear-through in devices now affords users control over the extent to which their surroundings are augmented over media. However, it is not known how listeners’ engagement with media is affected by environmental noise that is boosted by hear-through. This paper presents results of a listening experiment that investigates how noise influences engagement with speech-based media presented over earphones. The engagement measures used were; Immersion, Narrative Absorption, and Enjoyment, with Listening Effort and awareness of noise also assessed. The results suggested that boosting from hear-through provides listeners with a greater awareness of their surroundings without diminishing their engagement with speech-based media. Results also suggested that while most listeners experience lower engagement due to noise, some experience higher engagement.