Realism analysis of synthesized healthcare sound environments

Abstract

The acoustic qualities of healthcare sound environments can have significant influences on care providers’ ability to conduct critical sound tasks. Healthcare professionals constantly listen to the aural cues (e.g., alarms) and make critical decisions based on them. This study aims to assess the reliability of an open-source acoustical simulation tool in rendering healthcare providers’ auditory experience to enable the development of effective healthcare sound environments. The Pachyderm is developed as an open-source acoustical modeling and simulation plug-in for the Rhinoceros 3D-modeling platform commonly used by designers. The plug-in can compute various room acoustics metrics and generate auralizations by convolving anechoic recordings with the predicted acoustic signature of the architectural settings. While reliable predicted acoustic metrics are critical for iterative room-acoustics design studies, high fidelity auralizations can enable acoustic evaluations mainly based on critical listening and encourage collaboration between acoustical consultants, care providers and designers. The study introduces the findings of acoustic assessments including simulations and field measurements conducted in a new 14-bed adult medical-surgical inpatient unit at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The effectiveness is evaluated based on the deviation between the predicted and measured objective measures, and perceived differences between the auralizations and audio recordings assessed via listening tests.