Soundscape design of water features used in outdoor spaces where road traffic noise is audible

This research focused on the soundscape design of a wide range of small to medium sized water features (waterfalls, fountains with upward jet(s), and streams) which can be used in gardens or parks for promoting peacefulness and relaxation in the presence of road traffic noise. Firstly, the thesis examined the audio-visual interaction and perceptual assessment of water features, including the semantic components and the qualitative categorisation and evocation of water sounds; and secondly, the thesis investigated the effectiveness of the water features tested in promoting relaxation through sound mapping. Different laboratory tests were carried out, and these included paired comparison tests (audio-only, visual-only and audio-visual tests), semantic differential tests, as well as tests aimed at the qualitative categorisation and evocation of water features. Sound maps of the water generated sounds were developed through the use of propagation models based on either point or line sources. Three acoustic zones (‘water sounds dominant zone’, ‘optimum zone’ and ‘RTN dominant zone’ (RTN: road traffic noise)) were defined in the maps as the zones where relaxation/pleasantness can be promoted over a 20 m × 20 m area for different road traffic noise levels. Paired comparisons highlighted the interdependence between uni-modal (audio-only or visual-only) and bi-modal (audio-visual) perception, indicating that equal attention should be given to the design of both stimuli. In general, natural looking features tended to increase preference scores (compared to audio-only paired comparison scores), while manmade looking features decreased them. Semantic descriptors showed significant correlations with preferences and were found to be more reliable design criteria than physical parameters. A principal component analysis identified three components within the nine semantic attributes tested: “emotional assessment,” “sound quality,” and “envelopment and temporal variation.” The first two showed significant correlations with audio-only preferences, “emotional assessment” being the most important predictor of preferences, and its attributes naturalness, relaxation, and freshness also being significantly correlated with preferences. Categorisation results indicated that natural stream sounds are easily identifiable (unlike waterfalls and fountains), while evocation results showed no unique relationship with preferences. The results of sound maps indicated that small to medium sized water features can be used mainly in environments where road traffic noise levels are equal or lower than 65 dBA

Direction Specific Analysis of Psychoacoustics Parameters inside Car Cockpit: A Novel Tool for NVH and Sound Quality

Psychoacoustics parameters are widely employed in automotive field for objective evaluation of Sound Quality (SQ) of vehicle cabins and their components. The standard approach relies on binaural recordings from which numerical values and curves are calculated. In addition, head-locked binaural listening playback can be performed. The Virtual Reality (VR) technology recently started to diffuse also in automotive field, bringing new possibilities for enhanced and immersive listening sessions, thanks to the usage of massive microphone arrays instead of binaural microphones. In this paper, we combine both solutions: the principal SQ parameters are derived from multichannel recordings. This allows computing a map of direction-dependent values of SQ parameters. The acquisition system consists in a spherical microphone array with 32 capsules and a multiple-lens camera for capturing a panoramic equirectangular background image. The audio recording is encoded into High Order Ambisonics (HOA) format for being compared with a classic omnidirectional microphone and into Spatial PCM Sampling (SPS) format for producing 360° equirectangular color maps. The SPS encoding is used to plot over the background image the distribution of SPL values in dB (A) and of the SQ parameters: by adding to them the directional information, it results into a novel 360° diagnostic tool for localizing the most annoying sources. Furthermore, the playback of the HOA soundtrack can be performed both on a loudspeaker rig inside an Ambisonics listening room or on binaural headphones attached to a Head Mounted Display (HMD), benefiting from head-tracking and personalized Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs), allowing to make quick subjective evaluations with a degree of realism unattainable with the older static binaural approach

Predicting perceptual transparency of head-worn devices

| openaire: EC/H2020/812719/EU//VRACEAcoustically transparent head-worn devices are a key component of auditory augmented reality systems, in which both real and virtual sound sources are presented to a listener simultaneously. Head-worn devices can exhibit high transparency simply through their physical design but in practice will always obstruct the sound field to some extent. In this study, a method for predicting the perceptual transparency of head-worn devices is presented using numerical analysis of device measurements, testing both coloration and localization in the horizontal and median plane. Firstly, listening experiments are conducted to assess perceived coloration and localization impairments. Secondly, head-related transfer functions of a dummy head wearing the head-worn devices are measured, and auditory models are used to numerically quantify the introduced perceptual effects. The results show that the tested auditory models are capable of predicting perceptual transparency and are therefore robust in applications that they were not initially designed for.Peer reviewe

Towards the Interpretation of Sound Measurements from Smartphones Collected with Mobile Crowdsensing in the Healthcare Domain: An Experiment with Android Devices

The ubiquity of mobile devices fosters the combined use of ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and mobile crowdsensing (MCS) in the field of healthcare. This combination not only allows researchers to collect ecologically valid data, but also to use smartphone sensors to capture the context in which these data are collected. The TrackYourTinnitus (TYT) platform uses EMA to track users’ individual subjective tinnitus perception and MCS to capture an objective environmental sound level while the EMA questionnaire is filled in. However, the sound level data cannot be used directly among the different smartphones used by TYT users, since uncalibrated raw values are stored. This work describes an approach towards making these values comparable. In the described setting, the evaluation of sensor measurements from different smartphone users becomes increasingly prevalent. Therefore, the shown approach can be also considered as a more general solution as it not only shows how it helped to interpret TYT sound level data, but may also stimulate other researchers, especially those who need to interpret sensor data in a similar setting. Altogether, the approach will show that measuring sound levels with mobile devices is possible in healthcare scenarios, but there are many challenges to ensuring that the measured values are interpretable

Model of total annoyance due to combined transportation sound sources in simulated noise scenarios

Wydział FizykiOd 2002 roku Unia Europejska nakłada na kraje członkowskie obowiązek prowadzenia polityki antyhałasowej. Rządy państw uchwaliły akty prawne regulujące dopuszczalne poziomy hałasu w środowisku. Ich wartości są wyznaczone osobno dla różnych rodzajów źródeł hałasu (drogowy, szynowy, lotniczy). Jednak ludzie, zwłaszcza w miastach, są najczęściej narażeni na hałas wielu źródeł występujących równocześnie. Jednym z najczęściej badanych efektów zdrowotnych hałasu jest dokuczliwość. Można ją oceniać zarówno dla pojedynczych typów źródeł hałasu jak i ich jednoczesnej kombinacji – wówczas nazywana jest całkowitą dokuczliwością. Zostało zaproponowanych kilka modeli całkowitej dokuczliwości, ale wyniki badań są niejednoznaczne. Głównym celem pracy jest zaproponowanie nowych modeli całkowitej dokuczliwości w oparciu o symulowane w warunkach laboratoryjnych kombinacje źródeł hałasu. Przeprowadzono dwa eksperymenty: pierwszy dotyczył znalezienia zależności pomiędzy ocenami dokuczliwości hałasu samochodowego i obiektywnymi charakterystykami użytych nagrań; drugi dotyczył kombinacji różnych rodzajów źródeł dźwięku (hałas drogowy, tramwajowy i lotniczy) występujących równocześnie. Zaproponowano dwa nowe modele całkowitej dokuczliwości: model bazujący na cząstkowych ocenach dokuczliwości (PABaM) oraz na indywidualnych charakterystykach słuchaczy (PeCBaM).From 2002 the European Union demand from country members to pursue a policy focused on monitoring and limitation of noise. Each government established local law precising accepted noise levels which cannot be exceeded. However, those levels were established for each type of noise source (road traffic, railroad and aircraft) separately. On the other hand, people, especially cities inhabitants, are commonly exposed to noise from various sources at the same time. Among different effects of noise one of the most commonly studied is annoyance. Annoyance can be assessed for each type of noise source separately or for their concurrent existence – in that case it is called total annoyance (TA). Several models were proposed to predict TA, but the results are ambiguous. The main goal of this thesis is to propose new TA models using the approach reflecting natural urban noise in laboratory conditions as far as it was possible. Two experiments were conducted: in the first one it was aimed to find relations between road traffic (RT) noise annoyance assessments and values of objective characteristics of recordings. The second one focused on multiple noise sources (RT, trams, aircraft) presented concurrently. Two new models of TA are proposed: Partial Annoyances-Based Model (PABaM) and Personal Characteristics-Based Model (PeCBaM)

Electrophysiologic assessment of (central) auditory processing disorder in children with non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate

Session 5aPP - Psychological and Physiological Acoustics: Auditory Function, Mechanisms, and Models (Poster Session)Cleft of the lip and/or palate is a common congenital craniofacial malformation worldwide, particularly non-syndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCL/P). Though middle ear deficits in this population have been universally noted in numerous studies, other auditory problems including inner ear deficits or cortical dysfunction are rarely reported. A higher prevalence of educational problems has been noted in children with NSCL/P compared to craniofacially normal children. These high level cognitive difficulties cannot be entirely attributed to peripheral hearing loss. Recently it has been suggested that children with NSCLP may be more prone to abnormalities in the auditory cortex. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether school age children with (NSCL/P) have a higher prevalence of indications of (central) auditory processing disorder [(C)APD] compared to normal age matched controls when assessed using auditory event-related potential (ERP) techniques. School children (6 to 15 years) with NSCL/P and normal controls with matched age and gender were recruited. Auditory ERP recordings included auditory brainstem response and late event-related potentials, including the P1-N1-P2 complex and P300 waveforms. Initial findings from the present study are presented and their implications for further research in this area —and clinical intervention—are outlined. © 2012 Acoustical Society of Americapublished_or_final_versio

Ecological Validity of Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) Techniques for the Perception of Urban Sound Environments

Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) is a simulated technology used to deliver multisensory information to people under different environmental conditions. When IVR is generally applied in urban planning and soundscape research, it reveals attractive possibilities for the assessment of urban sound environments with higher immersion for human participation. In virtual sound environments, various topics and measures are designed to collect subjective responses from participants under simulated laboratory conditions. Soundscape or noise assessment studies during virtual experiences adopt an evaluation approach similar to in situ methods. This paper aims to review the approaches that are utilized to assess the ecological validity of IVR for the perception of urban sound environments and the necessary technologies during audio–visual reproduction to establish a dynamic IVR experience that ensures ecological validity. The review shows that, through the use of laboratory tests including subjective response surveys, cognitive performance tests and physiological responses, the ecological validity of IVR can be assessed for the perception of urban sound environments. The reproduction system with head-tracking functions synchronizing spatial audio and visual stimuli (e.g., head-mounted displays (HMDs) with first-order Ambisonics (FOA)-tracked binaural playback) represents the prevailing trend to achieve high ecological validity. These studies potentially contribute to the outcomes of a normalized evaluation framework for subjective soundscape and noise assessments in virtual environment