Evaluating the perceived affective qualities of urban soundscapes through audiovisual experiments

The study of the perceived affective qualities (PAQs) in soundscape assessments have increased in recent years, with methods varying from in-situ to laboratory. Through technological advances, virtual reality (VR) has facilitated evaluations of multiple locations in the same experiment. In this paper, VR reproductions of different urban sites were presented in an online and laboratory environment testing three locations in Greater Manchester (‘Park’, ‘Plaza’, and pedestrian ‘Street’) in two population densities (empty and busy) using ISO/TS 12913–2 (2018) soundscape PAQs. The studied areas had audio and video recordings prepared for 360 video and binaural audio VR reproductions. The aims were to observe population density effects within locations (Wilcoxon test) and variations between locations (Mann-Whitney U test) within methods. Population density and comparisons among locations demonstrated a significant effect on most PAQs. Results also suggested that big cities can present homogenous sounds, composing a ‘blended’ urban soundscape, independently of functionality. These findings can support urban design in a low-cost approach, where urban planners can test different scenarios and interventions

Simulation of SVPWM Based Multivariable Control Method for a DFIG Wind Energy System

This paper deals with a variable speed device toproduce electrical energy on a power network based on adoubly-fed induction machine used in generating mode(DFIG) in wind energy system by using SVPWM powertransfer matrix. This paper presents a modeling and controlapproach which uses instantaneous real and reactive powerinstead of dq components of currents in a vector controlscheme. The main features of the proposed model comparedto conventional models in the dq frame of reference arerobustness and simplicity of realization. The sequential loopclosing technique is adopted to design a multivariable controlsystem including six compensators for a DFIG wind energysystem to capture the maximum wind power and to inject therequired reactive power to the generator. In this paperSVPWM method is used for better controlling of converters.It also provides fault ride through method to protect theconverter during a fault. The time-domain simulation of thestudy system is presented by using MATLAB Simulink to testthe system robustness, to validate the proposed model and toshow the enhanced tracking capability

A Review of the Use of Psychoacoustic Indicators on Soundscape Studies

This work reviews the literature of 46 peer-reviewed papers and presents the current status on the use of psychoacoustic indicators in soundscape studies. The selection of papers for a systematic review followed the PRISMA method. Afterwards, descriptive analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were realised. For the PCA, the following parameters extracted from the papers were analysed: psychoacoustic indicator, hypothesis, statistical units, data collection method and major findings for each investigated psychoacoustic indicator. The results show an overview of the use of psychoacoustic indicators, through main hypothesis and findings for each psychoacoustic indicator i.e. the importance of statistical units, such as percentiles, to investigate the hypothesis related to the description of auditory descriptors and perceptual attributes. Another important finding is that many papers lack the specification of computation methods limiting the comparability of study results and impeding the meta-analyses