Artificial Sounds Research Articles

The impact of artificial vehicle sounds for pedestrians on driver stress

Electrically based vehicles have produced some concern over their lack of sound, but the impact of artificial sounds now being implemented have not been examined in respect to their effects upon the driver. The impact of two different implementations of vehicle sound on driver stress in electric vehicles was examined. A Nissan HEV running in electric vehicle mode was driven by participants in an area of congestion using three sound implementations: (1) no artificial sounds, (2) manually engaged sounds and (3) automatically engaged sounds. Physiological and self-report questionnaire measures were collected to determine stress and acceptance of the automated sound protocol. Driver stress was significantly higher in the manually activated warning condition, compared to both no artificial sounds and automatically engaged sounds. Implications for automation usage and measurement methods are discussed and future research directions suggested. Practitioner Summary: The advent of hybrid- and all-electric vehicles has created a need for artificial warning signals for pedestrian safety that place task demands on drivers. We investigated drivers’ stress differences in response to varying conditions of warning signals for pedestrians. Driver stress was lower when noises were automated.

Detection of Quiet Vehicles by Blind Pedestrians

AbstractThis paper examines participants who are blind, with and without normal hearing, regarding detection of forward approaching and backing vehicles operating in electric mode (identified in this paper as quiet vehicles) under low speed conditions. Testing under low ambient sound conditions involved evaluation of internal combustion engine vehicles, hybrid vehicles operating in electric mode (EM), and the same hybrid vehicles operating in EM but with five different artificially generated sounds. Three of the five artificial sounds improved detection relative to the internal combustion engine condition for both forward and backward detection tasks. Regression analysis indicated that significant predictors of forward detection performance include average wind speed, amplitude modulation of the signal, hearing loss in the 500 Hz range, vehicle velocity, minimum ambient sound level, and overall vehicle sound level in units of A-weighted decibels. The corresponding analysis for backward detection indicated...

Modality and Variability of Synesthetic Experience

In synesthesia, stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to additional, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. We here review previous surveys on this neurologically based phenomenon and report the results of 63 synesthetes who completed our Internet and paper questionnaire on synesthesia. In addition to asking for personal data and information on the participant's synesthesia, the questionnaire focused on the components of the inducer that elicit or modulate synesthesia. Synesthesia was most often developmental (92%) and of the grapheme-color type (86%). Sixty-two percent of the participants perceived time-related words in a spatial configuration. Music-color synesthesia was common (41%), and synesthesia for natural and artificial sounds (33%) was higher than in previous estimates. Eighty-one percent of participants experienced more than one form of synesthesia. Multimodal synesthesia, in which inducer and concurrent belong to 2 different sensory modalities, occurred in 92% of the participants. Overall, auditory stimuli were most often reported as inducers, and visual concurrents were most common. Modulations of the synesthetic experiences such as changes of the concurrent color, expansion within the same or to a different sensory modality, or reduction of the number of inducers over time were reported by 17% of participants. This challenges the presumed consistency of synesthesia and the adequacy of the test-retest consistency score still most commonly used to assess the veracity of reported synesthesia. Implications of the high prevalence of cross-modal synesthesia and the variability of synesthesia are discussed.

Examining the Impact of “Quiet” Vehicles on the Performance of Orientation and Mobility Tasks by Pedestrians who are Blind

Participants who are blind discriminated vehicle paths and made crossing decisions for hybrid vehicles with and without artificial sounds added. Several artificial sounds matched the performance of tasks observed with vehicles with internal combustion engines. These data, with previous vehicle-detection results, indicate that selecting artificial sounds for “quiet” vehicles based only on detection data is problematic.

Soundwalking을 통한 제주도 올레길의 소리풍경 조사

본 논문은 최근 제주도의 관광상품으로 각광받고 있는 올레길의 소리풍경을 soundwalking을 이용해 조사하였다. 이를 위해 올레길의 전체 16개 코스 중 3개 코스의 10개 지점에서 발생되는 소리의 특징을 문장으로 기술하고 소리의 크기를 측정하는 한편 녹음하였다. 또한 관광객 32명 및 음향전문가 5인을 대상으로 설문을 수행하여 해당지점의 배경 소리의 크기와 불쾌감에 대해 조사하였으며, 설문조사를 통해 인공음 및 자연음 17개를 제시한 뒤 그 중 가장 크게 들리는 소리 및 불쾌하게 들리는 소리, 듣기 좋은 소리와 인상적인 소리를 응답하도록 하였다. 또한 현장에서 녹음해온 소리를 실험실에서 청감실험을 통해 평가하여 현장 실험결과와 비교하였다. 실험 결과 제주도 올레길에서 가장 많이 발생하는 소리는 파도 및 바람소리, 자동차 소음과 사람의 말소리였으며, 그 중에서 듣기 좋은 소리는 자연음으로 이루어져있고 불쾌한 소리는 인공음인 것으로 나타났다. 현장에서 녹음해온 음원 및 영상을 통해 실험실에서 주관적 평가를 수행한 결과 소리의 불쾌감에 영향을 미치는 것은 인공음과 자연음의 비중이며 이는 곧 소리의 크기에 대한 평가에도 영향을 미친다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 그리고 현장평가와 실험실 평가 모두 소리의 크기와 불쾌감에 매우 큰 상관관계가 있음을 알 수 있었다. The present study aims to investigate the soundscapes of Jeju olle route through the soundwalking. In order to do this, sound measurements and sound recording were undertaken at 10 points along Jeju olle route. Also, loudness of background sound and figure sound were examined. Subjective surveys were carried out using questionnaire and interviews with 32 tourists and 5 acoustical specialists in order to investigate the loudest sound, most pleasant and unpleasant sound, and impressive sound among 17 natural and artificial sounds. Additionally, laboratory experiments were achieved to evaluates sound that have been recorded at the field using same questionnaire and the results were compared with those of field experiments. As a result, the sound heard most in Jeju olle route is the sea wave sound, wind sound, automobile noise, and human voice. It was revealed that the most pleasant sound consisted of nature sound among them, and that unpleasant sounds are artificial sounds. The results of subjective test denote that unpleasant sound is affected by ratio of artificial sound and nature sound. And this also affects the assessment about the loudness of the sound. Also, it was found that the results of both field test and laboratory test are closely correlated in the evaluation of loudness of sound and unpleasant feeling.

How Does the Agents' Appearance Affect Users' Interpretation of the Agents' Attitudes: Experimental Investigation on Expressing the Same Artificial Sounds From Agents With Different Appearances

An experimental investigation into how the appearance of an agent such as a robot or PC affects people's interpretations of the agent's attitudes is presented. In general, people are said to create stereotypical agent behavioral models in their minds based on the agents' appearances, and these appearances significantly affect their way of interaction. Therefore, it is quite important to address with the following research question: How does an agent's appearance affect its interactions with people? Specifically, a preliminary experiment was conducted to select eight artificial sounds for which people can estimate two specific primitive attitudes (e.g., positive or negative). Then an experiment was conducted where the participants were presented with the selected artificial sounds through three kinds of agents: a MindStorms robot, AIBO robot, and laptop PC. In particular, the participants were asked to select the correct attitudes based on the sounds expressed by these three agents. The results showed that the participants had better interpretation rates when a PC presented the sounds and lower rates when the MindStorms and AIBO robots presented the sounds, even though the sounds expressed by these agents were the same. The results of this study contribute to the design policy of the interactive agents, such as, What types of appearances should agents have to effectively interact with people, and which kinds of information should these agents express to people?

Sounds Scary? Lack of Habituation following the Presentation of Novel Sounds

BackgroundAnimals typically show less habituation to biologically meaningful sounds than to novel signals. We might therefore expect that acoustic deterrents should be based on natural sounds.MethodologyWe investigated responses by western grey kangaroos (Macropus fulignosus) towards playback of natural sounds (alarm foot stomps and Australian raven (Corvus coronoides) calls) and artificial sounds (faux snake hiss and bull whip crack). We then increased rate of presentation to examine whether animals would habituate. Finally, we varied frequency of playback to investigate optimal rates of delivery.Principal FindingsNine behaviors clustered into five Principal Components. PC factors 1 and 2 (animals alert or looking, or hopping and moving out of area) accounted for 36% of variance. PC factor 3 (eating cessation, taking flight, movement out of area) accounted for 13% of variance. Factors 4 and 5 (relaxing, grooming and walking; 12 and 11% of variation, respectively) discontinued upon playback. The whip crack was most evocative; eating was reduced from 75% of time spent prior to playback to 6% following playback (post alarm stomp: 32%, raven call: 49%, hiss: 75%). Additionally, 24% of individuals took flight and moved out of area (50 m radius) in response to the whip crack (foot stomp: 0%, raven call: 8% and 4%, hiss: 6%). Increasing rate of presentation (12x/min ×2 min) caused 71% of animals to move out of the area.Conclusions/SignificanceThe bull whip crack, an artificial sound, was as effective as the alarm stomp at eliciting aversive behaviors. Kangaroos did not fully habituate despite hearing the signal up to 20x/min. Highest rates of playback did not elicit the greatest responses, suggesting that ‘more is not always better’. Ultimately, by utilizing both artificial and biological sounds, predictability may be masked or offset, so that habituation is delayed and more effective deterrents may be produced.

Suitability of acoustics as non-lethal deterrents for macropodids: the influence of origin, delivery and anti-predator behaviour

Context Auditory devices used to deter wildlife are a potentially humane and effective way of minimising deleterious interactions with humans and their livelihoods and have been used successfully for many species around the world. Acoustic cues can be used to manipulate anti-predator behaviour, encouraging animals to forage elsewhere. Employing acoustics derived from natural sources to make use of innate behavioural responses has been suggested to outperform novel or artificial sounds; however, anti-predator strategies vary among sympatric species and will influence the utility of acoustic stimuli for deterring wildlife. Aims We aimed to test the interaction between the source of origin (natural or novel) and species traits (anti-predator strategy – grouping behaviour) on the efficacy of using acoustic stimuli to elicit alarm responses for two species in the family Macropodidae commonly associated with browsing on forest plantation seedlings; the red-necked pademelon (Thylogale thetis) and the red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus banksianus). Methods We tested these factors in captivity using playback experiments of acoustic stimuli and monitored the behavioural responses of subjects. Results Red-necked pademelons exhibited strong responses to bioacoustic and novel stimuli but did not greatly differentiate among them. Short-term habituation to predator calls was detected whereas responsiveness to novel sounds increased. Red-necked wallabies most strongly responded to conspecific distress calls, showing no sign of short-term habituation. Conclusions Results from the present and other studies suggest that bioacoustic deterrents, particularly those utilising natural conspecific sounds, aimed at communicating danger, have the potential to play an important role in non-lethal wildlife management, although that responsiveness varies with the form of anti-predator strategies employed. Implications If alarm responses translate into subjects vacating targeted areas, then there is some potential to implement non-lethal acoustic deterrents for macropodids alongside other management measures aimed at preventing impacts on primary production. Problematically, our experiments showed that without accurate acoustic delivery, particularly of sounds with infrasonic components, the development of effective bioacoustic deterrents may remain stymied.

Why are natural sounds detected faster than pips?

Simple reaction times (RTs) were used to measure differences in processing time between natural animal sounds and artificial sounds. When the artificial stimuli were sequences of short tone pulses, the animal sounds were detected faster than the artificial sounds. The animal sounds were then compared with acoustically modified versions (white noise modulated by the temporal envelope of the animal sounds). No differences in RTs were observed between the animal sounds and their modified counterparts. These results show that the fast detection observed for natural sounds, in the present task, could be explained by their acoustic properties.

Orienting asymmetries and lateralized processing of sounds in humans

BackgroundLateralized processing of speech is a well studied phenomenon in humans. Both anatomical and neurophysiological studies support the view that nonhuman primates and other animal species also reveal hemispheric differences in areas involved in sound processing. In recent years, an increasing number of studies on a range of taxa have employed an orienting paradigm to investigate lateralized acoustic processing. In this paradigm, sounds are played directly from behind and the direction of turn is recorded. This assay rests on the assumption that a hemispheric asymmetry in processing is coupled to an orienting bias towards the contralateral side. To examine this largely untested assumption, speech stimuli as well as artificial sounds were presented to 224 right-handed human subjects shopping in supermarkets in Germany and in the UK. To verify the lateralized processing of the speech stimuli, we additionally assessed the brain activation in response to presentation of the different stimuli using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).ResultsIn the naturalistic behavioural experiments, there was no difference in orienting behaviour in relation to the stimulus material (speech, artificial sounds). Contrary to our predictions, subjects revealed a significant left bias, irrespective of the sound category. This left bias was slightly but not significantly stronger in German subjects. The fMRI experiments confirmed that the speech stimuli evoked a significant left lateralized activation in BA44 compared to the artificial sounds.ConclusionThese findings suggest that in adult humans, orienting biases are not necessarily coupled with lateralized processing of acoustic stimuli. Our results – as well as the inconsistent orienting biases found in different animal species – suggest that the orienting assay should be used with caution. Apparently, attention biases, experience, and experimental conditions may all affect head turning responses. Because of the complexity of the interaction of factors, the use of the orienting assay to determine lateralized processing of sound stimuli is discouraged.

The sperm whale sonar: Monitoring and use in mitigation of anthropogenic noise effects in the marine environment

Noise pollution in the marine environment is an emerging but serious concern. Its implications are less well understood than other global threats and largely undetectable to everyone but the specialist. In addition, the assessment of the acoustic impact of artificial sounds in the sea is not a trivial task, certainly because there is a lack of information on how the marine organisms process and analyse sounds and how relevant these sounds are for the balance and development of the populations. Further, this possible acoustic impact not only concerns the hearing systems but may also affect other sensory or systemic levels and result equally lethal for the animal concerned. If we add that the negative consequences of a short or long term exposure to artificial sounds may not be immediately observed one can understood how challenging it is to obtain objective data allowing an efficient control of the introduction of anthropogenic sound in the sea. To answer some of these questions, the choice to investigate cetaceans and their adaptation to an aquatic environment is not fortuitous. Cetaceans, because of their optimum use of sound as an ad-hoc source of energy and their almost exclusive dependence on acoustic information, represent not only the best bio-indicator of the effects of noise pollution in the marine environment, but also a source of data to improve and develop human underwater acoustic technology. Here, we present how the characteristics and performance of the sperm whale mid-range biosonar can be used to develop a mitigation solution based on passive acoustics and ambient noise imaging to prevent negative interactions with human activities by monitoring cetacean movements in areas of interest, e.g. deep-sea observatories.

INT-02 Control of human generating force by use of acoustic information : Study on artificial sounds for small force controls(Intelligent Machines I,Technical Program of Oral Presentations)

INT-02 Control of human generating force by use of acoustic information : Study on artificial sounds for small force controls(Intelligent Machines I,Technical Program of Oral Presentations)

Control of Human Generating Force by Use of Acoustic Information? Substituting Artificial Sounds for Onomatopoeic Utterances

We have conducted basic experiments for applying onomatopoeia to engineering problems. Subjects were made to conduct lifting while listening to acoustic information consisting of onomatopoeic utterances and artificial sounds. We demonstrated a relationship between acoustic information and lifting-forces exerted by subjects. Here, we replaced onomatopoeic utterances with artificial sounds related to onomatopoeic utterances “with or without emotion,” and show that onomatopoeic utterances “with emotion” can indeed be replaced by composite sounds, including sweep sounds with a high center frequency. We also show that onomatopoeic utterances “without emotion” and pure sound have the same effect on the magnitude of lifting-force.

Parameter-specific modulation of the mismatch negativity to duration decrement and increment: Evidence for asymmetric processes

Objective The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of event-related potentials (ERPs) reflects a change-detection process in the brain. The present study investigated whether stimulus parameters (sound type and duration) exert a differential influence on the MMN for a duration decrement and increment of an equal magnitude. Some asymmetries were reported in the previous studies; yet no systematical study has been conducted. Methods ERPs were recorded from 16 healthy adults presented with repetitive standard sounds interspersed with duration changes (deviant sounds). In separate sequences, stimuli were vowels, music chord, sinusoid, or band-pass filtered white noise. The stimulus durations (standard/deviant) were either 200/120 ms or 400/240 ms for decrements, and vice versa for increments. Results The MMN for the increments was abolished in the 400/240 ms condition, whereas the MMN for decrements was significant irrespective of the sound duration. The amplitude of the increment MMN paralleled with the spectral complexity of the stimulus sound, whereas that of the decrement MMN was larger for natural sounds than artificial sounds. Conclusions The observed interactions demonstrated asymmetries in the MMN for duration increment and decrement. Significance The present findings suggest that the effects of stimulus parameters should be taken into account when comparing different studies, especially where clinical populations are involved, with one another.

Coding of communication calls in the subcortical and cortical structures of the auditory system

The processing of species-specific communication signals in the auditory system represents an important aspect of animal behavior and is crucial for its social interactions, reproduction, and survival. In this article the neuronal mechanisms underlying the processing of communication signals in the higher centers of the auditory system--inferior colliculus (IC), medial geniculate body (MGB) and auditory cortex (AC)--are reviewed, with particular attention to the guinea pig. The selectivity of neuronal responses for individual calls in these auditory centers in the guinea pig is usually low--most neurons respond to calls as well as to artificial sounds; the coding of complex sounds in the central auditory nuclei is apparently based on the representation of temporal and spectral features of acoustical stimuli in neural networks. Neuronal response patterns in the IC reliably match the sound envelope for calls characterized by one or more short impulses, but do not exactly fit the envelope for long calls. Also, the main spectral peaks are represented by neuronal firing rates in the IC. In comparison to the IC, response patterns in the MGB and AC demonstrate a less precise representation of the sound envelope, especially in the case of longer calls. The spectral representation is worse in the case of low-frequency calls, but not in the case of broad-band calls. The emotional content of the call may influence neuronal responses in the auditory pathway, which can be demonstrated by stimulation with time-reversed calls or by measurements performed under different levels of anesthesia. The investigation of the principles of the neural coding of species-specific vocalizations offers some keys for understanding the neural mechanisms underlying human speech perception.

景観の違いが環境音の心理評価に与える影響に関する研究

Some researches show the results that an interaction exists on subjective evaluation between sound and visual environment. This study takes Taiwan for instance, and is to examine the effects of scenery on psychological evaluation while hearing environmental sounds. The results are as follows:Evaluation of environmental sound is affected by not only the type of sound, but also the type of scenery. Comparing to the condition without any vision, the evaluation improved under the condition with the relative vision of scenery when hearing the sound. Natural scenery promoted the evaluation of environmental sound; however, artificial scenery reduced it. People like natural sounds and music, but dislike artificial sounds. Besides, the effect of environmental sound on evaluation is stronger than the effect of scenery.This research shows that the visual sense also affects the audio sense. For creating a comfortable sound environment, we should place importance on not only audio factors but also visual ones.

Object Familiarity and Semantic Congruency Modulate Responses in Cortical Audiovisual Integration Areas

The cortical integration of auditory and visual features is crucial for efficient object recognition. Previous studies have shown that audiovisual (AV) integration is affected by where and when auditory and visual features occur. However, because relatively little is known about the impact of what is integrated, we here investigated the impact of semantic congruency and object familiarity on the neural correlates of AV integration. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify regions involved in the integration of both (congruent and incongruent) familiar animal sounds and images and of arbitrary combinations of unfamiliar artificial sounds and object images. Unfamiliar object images and sounds were integrated in the inferior frontal cortex (IFC), possibly reflecting learning of novel AV associations. Integration of familiar, but semantically incongruent combinations also correlated with IFC activation and additionally involved the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). For highly familiar semantically congruent AV pairings, we again found AV integration effects in pSTS and additionally in superior temporal gyrus. These findings demonstrate that the neural correlates of object-related AV integration reflect both semantic congruency and familiarity of the integrated sounds and images.

3406 中途失明者を対象とした障害物検知のためのサウンドデザイン : 体の向きが変更不可の場合の実験(S72 生物医学工学における計測と制御,S72 生物医学工学における計測と制御)

Some of congenital blind persons recognize obstacles and surrounding environment by sounds. But it is relatively difficult for the blind who lost their sight posteriorly to acquire this ability because they don't have long acoustic training. This research intended them and examined the sounds which are easy to recognize obstacles. We carried out the experiment of pointing to no wall using a white cane or artificial sounds of different lengths or frequencies against some sighted people wearing an eye mask. We measured the angle of pointing to no wall and the time from starting to sound and estimated them. We found that the lengths of the sounds, which were suitable for intending obstacles, were long sounds about 800ms in the case of low frequency or short sounds about 50〜100ms in the case of high frequency.

613 中途失明者を対象とした障害物検知のためのサウンドデザイン

Our purpose is to design sounds to allow the acquired blind, who have difficulty recognizing their surroundings using sounds, to recognize obstacles easily. We carried out an experiment in which subjects pointed in the direction without a wall using white canes or artificial sounds to select an appropriate sound for recognizing obstacles easily. We considered the frequency, the length of the sound and the waveform of the sound when we prepared these artificial sounds. We thereby demonstrated that they were effective methods of changing the length or the waveform of sounds but that depended on the frequency to design sounds to recognize obstacle easily.

Functional organization of the forebrain auditory centres of the European starling: A study based on natural sounds

The field L complex is thought to be the highest auditory centre and the input in the song vocal nuclei. Different anatomical and functional subdivisions have been described in field L. Auditory neurons of field L are well activated by natural sounds and especially by species-specific sounds. A complex sound coding appears to exist in field L. However, until now, the spatial organization of the different functional subdivisions has been described only using artificial sounds. Here, we investigated the spatial distribution of neuronal responses in field L to species-specific songs. Starlings seemed to be a very appropriate species for this investigation, both because of their complex vocal behaviour that implies different levels of categorization and their neuronal responses towards complex song elements. Multi-unit recordings were performed in wild starlings that were awake. The method of backward correlation was used to visualize the functional organization and we represented the neuronal responses as both activity maps and correlation maps. The use of natural sounds allowed us to define several functional sub-areas with different neuronal processing. These results show that field L is involved in a more complex task than simple frequency processing.