Detectability and annoyance of warning sounds for electric vehicles

Abstract

Electric or hybrid vehicles are very quiet at low speeds, which represents a very good opportunity to reduce traffic noise annoyance in cities. On the other hand, this may be very hazardous for vulnerable pedestrians (e.g., visually impaired people). The aim of the eVADER project is to propose solutions in order to add warning sounds to such cars, while fulfilling two contradictory goals: sounds should be detectable but should not contribute to traffic noise annoyance. Different perceptual experiments have been conducted: the first one evaluated the influence of various timbre parameters on sound detectability. It was shown that an electric vehicle equipped with one particular sound was as easily detected as a diesel one, while keeping a very low level. Then, the influence of some timbre parameters (pitch and temporal modulation frequency) on the distance and speed as perceived by listeners was measured. These two experiments were conducted with sighted and visually impaired subjects. Finally, a third one evaluated the consequence on traffic noise annoyance of such warning sounds.