Acoustic characteristics of the clothes used for a wearable recording device

There has been increasing attention in the literature to wearable acoustic recording devices, particularly to examine naturalistic speech in disordered and child populations. Recordings are typically analyzed using automatic procedures that critically depend on the reliability of the collected signal. This work describes the acoustic amplitude response characteristics and the possibility of acoustic transmission loss using several shirts designed for wearable recorders. No difference was observed between the response characteristics of different shirt types or between shirts and the bare-microphone condition. Results are relevant for research, clinical, educational, and home applications in both practical and theoretical terms.