Grounded theory approach on audio-visual perception of users in the restaurant environment

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the occupants' auditory and visual perception based on varying spectral characteristics of the soundscape in restaurant environment at Bilkent University, Türkiye. The study hypothesized that the sounds generated from background activity evoke a negative perception, whereas human-generated sounds positively affect users. It also hypothesized that there is a linear correlation between sound's spectrum and the negative soundscape and that users sitting adjacent or facing the buffet counter experienced negative soundscape compared to those sitting adjacent or facing the windows with an outside view. To analyze the users' perception of soundscape and visual environment, measurements were taken from other locations based on their auditory and visual differences due to the ceiling heights, the distance between the tables, and their distance from the buffet service counter. Volunteers were interviewed using semi-structured questions, and their responses were evaluated through a grounded theory method via ATLAS. Additionally, the volunteers were requested to complete a questionnaire based on Method A for each location and throughout the experiment. The results showed that the auditory perception of the users does not only depend on sound levels since the responses towards sound sources and sound levels change depending on the audio-visual characteristics of the space.