Masters Theses

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Multi-modal Multi-Level Neuroimaging Fusion with Modality-Aware Mask-Guided Attention and Deep Canonical Correlation Analysis to Improve Dementia Risk Prediction
Singh, Swapnil Satyendra (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-11)
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by structural and molecular changes in the brain. Early diagnosis and accurate subtyping are essential for timely intervention and therapeutic planning. This thesis presents a novel multimodal deep learning framework that integrates T1-weighted MRI and Amyloid PET imaging to improve the diagnosis and stratification of AD. The proposed architecture leverages a two-stage pipeline involving modality-specific feature extraction using ResNet50 backbones, followed by middle fusion enhanced with a Modality-Aware Mask-Guided Attention (MAMGA) mechanism. To address missing modalities and inter-modal misalignment, the model incorporates Random Modality Masking and Deep Canonical Correlation Analysis (DCCA) for cross-modal feature alignment. Experiments on the ADNI dataset demonstrate that the proposed MRI+PET (MAMGA+DCCA) model achieves a balanced accuracy of 0.998 and an AUC-ROC of 0.999 in distinguishing stable normal cognition (sNC) from stable Alzheimer's Disease (sDAT). For the more challenging task of separating stable and progressive MCI (sMCI vs. pMCI), the best-performing fusion model achieved a balanced accuracy of 0.732 and an AUC of 0.789. Extensive ablation studies confirm the contributions of MAMGA, DCCA, and dual-optimizer strategies in enhancing diagnostic robustness. This work highlights the clinical potential of multimodal deep learning frameworks in improving early Alzheimer's detection and stratification.
Los Angeles 2028: Inglewood Station and Ballfield
Utter, Larry Ryan (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-11)
Deviating from traditional zoning segregation, many municipalities around the country increasingly seek to accommodate large congregations inside their town limits based on hybrid land use. Especially sports stadiums are locations with large infrastructural investments but often active only during specific events. Over the course of a year, the sport or concert activities denote only very short portion in the life of a stadium complex, whereas most of the time, the restricted typology contributes little to urban qualities. This thesis proposes a stadium typology based on hybrid land use, to include rail-based public transportation, a year-round retail zone, and space for social programs in its perimeter. The proposal aims to provide both the event space and offer an enduring lively environment and respectively a better service to its community. Los Angeles, poised to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, offers itself the territory for a site that promises to continue its urban contributions beyond the games.
The Four Thresholds
Massey, Airii (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-11)
This thesis investigates the architecture of thresholds as a poetic medium for shaping the transitional experience within the built environment. Through the careful orchestration of light, materiality, and spatial progression, the project seeks to cultivate a deliberate slowing of movement, inviting users to engage more deeply with each moment of passage. Drawing inspiration from the contemplative rhythms of Japanese living, where the act of transition is as meaningful as the destination itself, and contrasting them with the often hurried patterns of American habitation and relaxation, this study proposes a bath house nestled into the terraced landscape of Great Falls, Virginia. The architecture unfolds alongside the descending waterfront hillside, where spaces are carved, layered, and revealed gradually, blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior. Here, the architecture acts not merely as a vessel for activity but as an active participant in a ritual of slowing down, reconnecting body, mind, and environment through the measured unfolding of space.
Identifying Biophysical Drivers of Evapotranspiration for Forest Cover in a Mountainous Region
Nicolai, Lydia Rose (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-11)
Evapotranspiration (ET) is critical for understanding the impacts of climate change and land-use/land-cover change on water availability, ecosystem health, and agricultural productivity. However, point-based, field-measured ET data often lacks sufficient spatial and temporal coverage, especially in complex mountainous terrains such as the Appalachian Mountains. Consequently, characterizing ET rates across diverse land cover types and changing climate conditions remains challenging. This study uses remote sensing-derived ET data from the METRIC model for four selected watersheds in Virginia's Appalachian Mountains. Landsat-derived ET data with a 30-meter resolution spanning from 2015 to 2020 were obtained through the Earth Engine Evapotranspiration Flux (EEFLUX) platform on Google Earth Engine. Using supplementary GridMET reference evapotranspiration (ETr) data, temporal interpolation methods were applied to generate pixel-level daily ET profiles for the entire study area. The main objectives included comparing ET rates across land cover types from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and quantifying relative differences among land covers. Within forested land covers specifically, I further examined how topographic, soil, and vegetative factors influence ET variability. Generalized Least Squares and Random Forest models were employed to assess the relationships between selected biophysical variables and ET, highlighting both linear modeling with correlated error structures and the identification of non-linear patterns. Results from both models highlighted the significant roles of aspect, slope, and tree canopy cover in influencing ET variability, providing valuable insights into landscape-scale hydrological processes. Additionally, these models can be used to potentially fill gaps in ET estimates when satellite-derived data are limited due to cloud cover or other data availability constraints.
A Cultural and Dynamic Landscape Design
Zhao, Yixuan (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-11)
Washington, D.C.'s state-named streets honor the nation's history, yet they lack meaningful cultural representation. This project proposes a new urban design framework to transform these streets into immersive cultural experiences. The ultimate goal is to design all 51 state-named streets, ensuring that each one tells the unique story of its respective state. Due to time constraints, Louisiana Avenue serves as the first prototype, demonstrating how landscape design can blend reality and abstraction to express a state's geography and culture. Inspired by Mud Island Park's realistic geographic modeling and California Scenario's abstract artistic approach, this design integrates Louisiana's topography, Mississippi River dynamics, and Creole cultural symbols into the urban environment. The project also incorporates flood-resilient drainage systems, including Louisiana-style water wells, addressing climate challenges. This scalable strategy can be applied to future projects, ensuring that all 51 state-named streets in Washington, D.C. evolve from simple names into meaningful, story-driven public spaces.
Impact of Sex and Stretch-Shortening Cycle Induced-Fatigue on Limb Stiffness and Limb Stiffness Asymmetry During the Stop-Jump
Rebholz, Victoria Anne (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-11)
Sports-related injuries have a 67% incidence of occurring during competitive play, particularly in sports where fatigue is thought to negatively affect the way that the lower extremities attenuate forces being placed on the body.72 With the overall incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries increasing, there is a growing incidence of these injuries occurring in the female population.117,12 Landing mechanics that are more erect, and those that are more asymmetrical, are known to increase the risk of injury, and may be heightened by the onset of fatigue.32 This study aimed to assess the effect of sex and fatigue induced by the stretch-shortening cycle on lower limb mechanics and asymmetry values in the stop-jump task. The first purpose of the study was to assess the effect of sex and stretch-shortening cycle fatigue on limb stiffness and limb stiffness asymmetry. The second purpose was to assess landing mechanics that are known to be indicators of how forces are being attenuated by the limbs. The components of limb stiffness were also assessed, including the resultant ground reaction force (rGRF) and change in limb length. A significant interaction was found for nondominant limb change in limb length (p=0.005), where males showed an increase in the change in limb length, while females showed a decrease following the fatigue protocol. The rGRF of both limbs was also different between pre- and post-fatigue conditions, decreasing in both sexes with the onset of fatigue. Asymmetry values for peak knee flexion angle, absolute value of knee flexion angle at initial contact (IC), and loading rate were also assessed before and after fatigue. Significant interactions for asymmetry values of peak knee flexion angle and absolute value of knee flexion angle at IC indicated that only female participants had an increase in asymmetry of knee flexion at IC and peak knee flexion values after the fatigue protocol. These results suggest that females adopt a more asymmetrical landing strategy than males after fatigue. A significant increase in peak knee flexion was also found for both sexes after fatigue. Thus, the decrease in rGRF may be due to the increase in peak knee flexion, which aids in the attenuation of the forces placed on the body. The results of this study indicate that, with fatigue, female participants may adopt landing strategies that put them at greater risk of sustaining lower extremity knee injuries during sport.
Dynamic Architecture Flow Optimization for Capability-Based Assessment of Naval Ship Design
Kidd, MaKenzie Lane (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-11)
This thesis details the improvement and implementation of a Dynamic Architecture Flow Optimization (DAFO) tool for Combat, Power, and Energy System (CPES) design in naval surface ship concept development. As a continuation of earlier work, the DAFO has been refined using matrix-based methods with further development towards implementing capability-based design. The DAFO responds to capability requests to support dynamic operational situations (OPSITs) in a Warfighting Model and enables optimized and feasible warfighting reconfiguration under both intact and damage conditions. This involves maximizing the effectiveness of the CPES and providing capabilities over multiple time steps while interfacing with a Ship Synthesis Model (SSM). The SSM connection provides the required physical and logical architectures and other constraints for a particular ship design. The DAFO interacts with multiple models, including a Warfighting Model, Ship Operational Model, and Mission Capability Model. These models, along with the DAFO, are called Ship Behavior and Interaction Models (SBIMs). These models are essential when determining operational effectiveness in OPSITs as they are at the intersection between the physical, operational, and logical architectures of the ship system. With the new matrix-based solution, the ship system's logical architecture is described by a network of vital energy and data component (VC) vertices and edges with their associated adjacency matrix. These VCs are interdependent, with edges linking energy and data flow and allowing capability and effectiveness-based dependencies to be established, driven entirely by flow and based on requested capabilities and warfighting priorities. This network is the basis for matrix operations and a linear programming solution with enhanced computational efficiency. This refinement provides the necessary processing speed for rapid solution of dynamic mission scenarios and effectively manages the complexity of a large ship multi-commodity system of systems.
Inclination for Disquiet
Bonura, Christopher Joseph (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-11)
This thesis explores the transformation of the Luck Stone Quarry, in Richmond, Virginia, which is an active industrial landscape that is situated along the James River. The transformation of the space seeks to see the quarry evolved into a multi-functional landscape that merges ecological, cultural and civic function. As an expansive void that has been shaped by industry, the quarry sits at the intersection of ecological disruption, industrial heritage and spatial disconnection. The research investigates how its transformation can be a framework for utilizing the inherent characteristic and affinities of industrial landscapes, so that they may fit into the urban fabric. In doing this, they may engage with potential greenway systems, in order to form a more cohesive connection between the river, city and industry. The projects essence stems from post-industrial typologies, especially Meltem Erdem Kaya's ideology, where industrial spaces are meant to be interpreted within our urban settings, instead of erased. Building upon these typologies, this thesis introduces the dissonant landscape, spaces where the sublime interacts with the realities of industrial disruption and erasure. This typology speaks to human sensory emotion, allowing them to experience the raw, unfiltered affinities of industrial landscapes in their unresolved forms. These human experiences give the landscape agency, and purpose to exist within the urban fabric, and become part of greenway systems within infrastructure. Drawing from Robert Searns work on how greenways have evolved, the Luck Stone Quarry can fit into the system due to how greenways take form based on urban stressors and requirements. The thesis explores how the industrial corridor of Richmond can be adapted for reuse with stormwater mitigation systems, and explores how post-industrial landscapes have the potential to be multi-faceted in this manner. Through stormwater retention and public interpretation, the quarry is reframed as a functional green infrastructure system, and a repository for cultural memory. Ultimately, the thesis positions the Luck Stone Quarry as a model for industrial landscapes, and how they can be used as cultural pieces of greater systems. The Luck Stone Quarry in particular does not resolve the existing tensions or environmental trauma that it has caused, but instead reveals it and reframes it. By doing this, this thesis can broaden discourse on climate resilience, urban repair and the role that landscape architecture has in interpreting dissonant, damaged and sublime landscapes.
My Body, the Conduit
Ameli, Yasmine Zahra (Virginia Tech, 2020-06-11)
My Body, the Conduit is a poetry collection that, informed by confessional and documentary poetic traditions, is fundamentally concerned with the lived experiences of the body. It is particularly interested in studying the speaker's patterns of experience from a wider systemic viewpoint and framing them in sociohistorical contexts. The collection grapples with the diagnosis, treatment, and historical gynecological framings of Genito-Pelvic Pain Disorder (also known as Penetration Disorder and, formerly, Vaginismus) and virginity with a particular interest in investigating heteronormative bias, bisexual erasure, and racism, as well as Genito-Pelvic Pain Disorder's comorbidity with sexual assault, trauma, depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts. The collection also grapples with Iranian-/American gender, race, and national identities; familial storytelling; and the speaker's experience of relearning her first language (Persian/Farsi) within the context of western exploitation of Iranian oil as well as the forty-year-old Cold War between the United States and Iran. There is some power in the articulation of violences against the body, individual and collective. Rather than reproduce violences on a page for the sake of mimesis, this work belongs to a tradition of poetry of witness that challenges constructions of identity as singular and stagnant. The speaker bears witness to Iranian-American experience, challenges our country's heteronormative gynecological and social history, and broadens the scope of what we mean by "the body."
Mechanical Object as a Learning Aid: Uncovering Students’ Mental Models Solving Thermodynamics Problems
El Kihal, Mohammed (Virginia Tech, 2025-03-25)
Undergraduate students frequently struggle with thermodynamics because of its abstract nature and complicated intellectual foundations. Previous research has looked into the use of haptic technologies and hands-on workshops to improve comprehension, but these methods can be resource costly. A more accessible method is to incorporate small mechanical devices into problem-solving exercises to improve conceptual understanding. This study investigates how students' mental models evolve when solving thermodynamics problems and whether incorporating mechanical objects influences their problem-solving patterns. We hypothesize that students with access to physical objects will engage in more experiential reasoning, leading to enhanced conceptual connections. Using a sequential analysis approach, we examined 32 think-aloud sessions from third-year undergraduate students solving thermodynamics problems. Students were divided into two groups: one with access to small mechanical objects and one without. Their problem-solving sequences were coded and analyzed to identify patterns in reasoning and conceptual development. The analysis revealed that students generally followed a structured problem-solving framework, aligning with prior research. However, those with mechanical objects demonstrated increased connections between use of experiences and different problem-solving steps. Differences were also observed based student performance levels, with high-performing students exhibiting more iterative and scaffolded problem-solving approaches. Our findings suggest that even simple, inexpensive mechanical objects can positively impact students' mental models by fostering experiential reasoning. While traditional instruction often lacks tangible connections to thermodynamic concepts, introducing physical objects appears to reinforce conceptual understanding. Future research should explore how alternative representations, such as images, videos, and AR/VR simulations, compared to physical objects in shaping students’ mental models.
A Submodular Approach to Find Interpretable Directions in Text-to-Image Models
Allada, Ritika (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
Text-to-image models have significantly improved the field of image editing. However, finding attributes that the model can actually edit is still a remaining challenge. This thesis proposes a solution to this problem by leveraging a multimodal vision-language model (MMVLM) to find a list of potential attributes that can be used to edit an image, using Flux and ControlNet to generate edits using those keywords, and then applying a submodular ranking method to find which edits actually work. The experiments in this paper demonstrate the robustness of this approach and its ability to produce high-quality edits across various domains, such as dresses and living rooms.
Between Swamp and Sea: Agroforestry as Wetland Restoration in Southeast Virginia
Tribastone, Benjamin Carl (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
This paper examines the migration potential of two ecosystems characteristic to the coastal plain - the salt marsh and the bottomland hardwood forest. Set in an agricultural field in Chesapeake, Virginia, adjacent to the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, this applied research design project investigates how adaptive landscape strategies can facilitate marsh migration without sacrificing forested wetland or productive value. Observational studies of marsh migration into coastal forests are well documented, though the mechanisms and determinants behind this conversion are complex and have only recently been given attention. I synthesize empirical studies on the topographic factors that determine marsh migration to derive and apply design guidelines for a loblolly pine production system. Drawing on regional geomorphology, this work proposes a phased microtopography-driven approach to enact long-term transformation where silviculture is the strategy to make the transition operational. Through speculative design, this thesis reframes salt-impacted agricultural landscapes not as zones of loss, but as emergent ecologies capable of provoking novel possibilities in the face of accelerating sea level rise.
Controls over the distribution of soil micro-invertebrates in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Wood, Morgan Nicole (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica are a cold desert ecosystem where soil micro-invertebrate communities are shaped by extreme abiotic conditions, particularly low soil moisture, organic carbon availability, and high salinity. In this thesis I combine long-term ecological data with spatial habitat modeling to investigate the environmental drivers of micro-invertebrate distributions and predict future distributions under variations in moisture availability associated with shifting climate regimes. Chapter 1 documents the creation and cleaning of long-term datasets compiled from the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, encompassing ~30 years of physical and chemical soil data linked to micro-invertebrate abundance. These datasets serve as the foundation for Chapter 2, which applies statistical and machine learning models, including logistic regression and Random Forest combined with remote sensing and GIS, to assess habitat suitability for key taxa. Results indicate that Plectus spp., Eudorylaimus spp., rotifers, and tardigrades are positively associated with higher soil moisture and organic carbon, while Scottnema lindsayae prefers dry, nutrient-poor soils consistent with previous literature. Projected increases in soil moisture favor habitat expansion for moisture-dependent taxa and reduce suitable habitat for taxa less tolerant of moisture such as Scottnema lindsayae. My findings suggest that climate-driven changes in soil water availability could shift species distributions and community composition in Antarctic soils. This work provides a framework for future distribution modeling in polar ecosystems and highlights the importance of long-term ecological data in predicting biodiversity responses to environmental change.
REACTING TO...: Understanding The Motivations, Participatory Culture, and Spectatorship Behind Reaction Videos
Okyere, Rodney Oppong (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
Reaction videos (RVs) are surging in popularity, emerging as a distinctive facet of participatory culture on current-day social video-sharing platforms such as YouTube, Tiktok, and Twitch. This study aims to explore not only the motivations and engagement patterns of viewers with RVs, but also the underlying nature of the virality and community-building phenomena that this sub-genre of content fosters. We conducted a thematic analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with people who identified as regular consumers of reaction videos to build a better understanding on how viewers discover reaction videos (RQ1), the values that drive motivations in viewing reaction videos (RQ2), and the engagement practices viewers have with reaction videos, which consists of their interactions with the video, "reactors," and other viewers (RQ3). Our research not only highlighted the variety of original content that RVs utilize, ranging from movie trailers to music releases, but also the different engagement strategies viewers rely on in their consumption of RVs. Our findings emphasized the importance of emotional connection with reactors, the search for communal experiences around shared interests, and the role of RVs in content discovery and critique. Drawing from viewers' experiences with reaction videos, our research presents a behind-the-scenes perspective on the intricate landscape of being a spectator and its impact on society's production and consumption of content in today's digital age and contributes to the development of a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the broader reaction video culture.
Urhobo: Language, Identity, and Design
Akusu, Efe (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
Urhobo: Language, Identity and Design is a 3D web-based game design project that explores how technology and digital storytelling can preserve and promote the endangered language and cultural heritage of the Urhobo people of Nigeria's Niger Delta in Delta State. Inspired by UNESCO's warning that about 40% of the world's languages are at risk, this project responds with a creative intervention that merges traditional storytelling and new technology. The project dates back to the pre-colonial era of 1930 to 1960, a time when Urhobo culture was stronger than it is now. The experience opens with a 3D low-poly rendering of an environment with mid-sized houses in the suburbs of Oviore-Ovu community in Urhobo land in Delta State. While exploring the environment, the user will encounter interactive language-learning models of objects and poetry that reflect aspects of Urhobo mythology and folklore. Based on a human-centered design approach, integrating Cranz's Ethnography, Ellen Lupton's Design is Storytelling, and IDEO's 3 "I"s, the design emphasizes accessibility, offering intuitive navigation for a broad audience, from Urhobo community members to global cultural preservationists. By combining art, language, and technology, this project demonstrates the potential of game design as a tool for safeguarding Indigenous languages and identities. It aims to preserve Urhobo heritage as well as inspire similar efforts across marginalized cultures worldwide, fostering empathy, connection, and deeper understanding through new digital media.
Evaluating a Residential EE Program through a Holistic Lens
Crane, Paige Madison Baker (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
This study aimed to investigate how components of a residential environmental education (EE) program in Maryland USA influence identity development and inspire adolescent youth. Negotiating identity is a key feature of adolescence. However, limited research has focused on how EE programs provoke meaning that influences identity and inspiration. Our mixed methods approach explored the questions: What meanings are participants deriving from the 5-day residential NorthBay experience? What elements of NorthBay's programming appear to be most powerfully driving identity development and inspiration? Over four weeks of field research, we conducted focus groups and observations throughout the weeklong experience with a subset of participants and administered an end-of-week survey to the entire cohort of participants. Findings suggest that the program yielded positive outcomes related to identity development, including self-awareness, proximal relationships, and relationships with broader systems; and inspiration. The findings also suggest that experiences that take an interpretive approach to EE through thematic communication, intentionally incorporate novel challenges, and emphasize social relationships can create opportunities for students to make meaning relevant to identity development. We discuss the implications of these findings for EE program design and delivery.
The Greenprint: Organic Architecture as a Model for Residential Living
Rehrig, Michael Scott (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
This Master of Architecture thesis by Michael Rehrig explores organic architecture as a design methodology grounded in response to site, response to material, and quality of space with a focus on a proposed residential site in Blacksburg, Virginia. "Planted" within the landscape amongst the Blue Ridge Mountains, the dwelling space engages with the region's topography, climate, and vegetation, fostering a natural interrelationship between structure and landscape. Local materials such as timber and stone are celebrated for their natural and structural properties, guiding both construction logic and aesthetic expression. The dwelling space prioritizes the quality of space through the display of scenic landscapes, acoustics, and everyday movement, creating natural dwelling spaces that evolve with seasonal and daily rhythms. By embedding the architecture within its surroundings—both physically and conceptually—the thesis argues for a design ideology that minimizes environmental disruption while enhancing human experience through natural landscape. The resulting work is a study in how architecture can be defined by landscape, emerging from the land, informed by nature, and contributing meaningfully to its cultural and ecological setting.
Biometric Leakage from Generative Models and Adversarial Iris Swapping for Spoofing Eye-based Authentication
Michalak, Jan Jakub (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
This thesis investigates the vulnerability of generative models trained on biometric data and explores digital spoofing attacks on iris-based authentication systems representative of AR/VR environments. We first explore how diffusion models trained on biometric data can memorize and leak iris images. Next, we evaluate the effectiveness of Cross-Attention GANs for iris-swapping attacks, demonstrating their ability to enable presentation attacks that spoof iris-recognition systems. Our experiments across several standard iris and VR datasets have an attack success rate of 100% within similar domains and generalize across domains with rates as high as 70%. Our findings highlight the need to consider vulnerabilities in biometric systems and strengthen defenses against digital presentation attacks produced by generative models.
An Economics-Based Methodology for Analysis of the Inequitable Distribution of Flooding Risk
El-Rafey, Jad (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-10)
Flooding is a significant hazard that threatens both human life and property. There are a number of flooding mechanisms: fluvial, pluvial, and coastal, which are all being exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Coastal flooding hazards are especially dangerous given population dynamics leading to increased populations that are subject to greater flooding hazard due to sea level rise (SLR). Flooding hazards are taken on by people, but they are not distributed equally throughout populations. This thesis proposes an analysis methodology to analyze this inequity using the First Street Foundation (FSF) Flood Factor® (FF). This methodology produces qualitative and quantitative results based on the economics analysis concepts of the Lorenz curve (LC) and the Gini index (G). These results facilitate comparison of demographics to determine inequitable flooding distributions. This thesis also examines an application of the proposed methodology specifically examining coastal counties in the contiguous U.S. Results indicate that Nonwhite demographics typically experience greater inequity within their demographic in coastal regions while the distribution of flooding exposure is more equal among the White demographic. This new methodology enables determination of inequitable flooding distributions between demographics on a national scale.
Evaluation of Military Hearing Protection Devices in a Simulated Aircraft Carrier Soundscape
Langhauser, Keith Peter (Virginia Tech, 2025-06-09)
Auditory situation awareness, including the ability to localize sound sources rapidly and accurately, is essential for military personnel operating in complex, high-risk environments. Effective auditory localization enables service members to detect threats, maintain spatial orientation, and communicate vital information, particularly under conditions where visual cues are limited. Unfortunately, the same headsets service members rely on to protect their hearing also convey deleterious effects on localization and situation awareness. Oftentimes, service members choose to improperly fit hearing protection, or forgo it entirely, to maintain situation awareness and better protect themselves against life-threatening hazards in the environment. This study evaluated two newly developed systems — the Frontier 1 and Frontier 2 — against four commonly used military hearing protection devices (HPDs) and the open ear within simulated aircraft carrier flight deck and room ambient conditions. Fourteen normal-hearing participants completed a series of auditory localization tasks using the Portable Auditory Localization Acclimation Test (PALAT) system, which measured absolute accuracy, ballpark accuracy, response time, front-back reversal errors, and left-right reversal errors. Subjective measures of confidence, comfort, and acceptability were also assessed. A full-factorial, repeated-measures design with counterbalanced condition order was employed. Differences in mean performance metrics were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models for omnibus testing and paired-samples t-tests with Holm-Bonferroni corrections for post hoc pairwise comparisons. Results indicated that headset type significantly influenced localization performance and subjective ratings, with several active HPDs outperforming passive devices in preserving situation awareness. Performance differences were environment-dependent, emphasizing the challenges of protecting hearing without degrading spatial awareness in noisy operational settings. Furthermore, despite employing active noise cancellation (ANC) technology, the Frontier 2 did not perform significantly better than its counterpart. This suggests that electronically-modulated HPDs, which include both pass-through and ANC, do not necessarily afford users significantly different performance in similar environments. Findings support the adoption of advanced HPDs to enhance auditory situation awareness, preserve mission effectiveness, and promote compliance with hearing protection protocols in naval aviation environments.

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