Environmental Sounds Research Articles

Impact of Diversity Management on Work Behaviour: HRM Role

The study aims to determine the relationship of workforce diversity with the intention of employees to develop them and the broad performance of the organization. this study explores the multifaceted relationship between diversity management initiatives and work behaviour within organizational settings. With the global workforce becoming increasingly diverse, organizations are recognizing the importance of fostering inclusive environments to leverage the unique perspectives and talents of employees from various backgrounds. The research investigates the strategies and practices employed by organizations to manage diversity and their influence on employee behaviour. Hypotheses are developed and a research framework is prepared with a view to explore the stated relationship. A self-administered questionnaire was employed for accumulating primary data and correlation analysis was used to comprehend the relationship among the variables. Positive relationship of diversity management was recognized with both organizational performance and employee development. The study can be helpful for the business administrators to ascertain the need of diversity management so that a sound environment of accepting changes can be ensured and organizational environmental performance can be boosted.

Performance problems: presence, memory and fabulation in live music

This article discusses a set of “performance problems” (Madri 2009) in live music from the enshrinement and emptying of music “lives” in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Beginning with the notion of presence, we recognize “live” as a status with a long tradition in mediatic configurations (Auslander 2008, Pires 2019) and present the aesthetic impasses brought about by their archiving in digital culture. We debate speculative zones between memory, invention, and simulation in three experiences created by live music materials: the presence of holograms and music performances, the retransmission of archived shows on digital platforms in the context of the pandemic, and the creation of new sound environments for pre-recorded materials.

Influence of Perceived Soundscape and Sound Environment on Subjective Well-being of Park Visitors

Influence of Perceived Soundscape and Sound Environment on Subjective Well-being of Park Visitors

Temporal patterns in the soundscape of the port area in an urban estuary

Soundscape ecology, facilitated by the collection of environmental sounds, enables the determination of the area used by specific species, estimation of population abundance, verification of habitat health, and assistance in management and monitoring processes. Estuaries are key environments in the life cycle of many species. As coastal ecosystems, they face potential impacts by human activities. This study aims to characterize the soundscape of the Patos Lagoon estuary (PLE), Brazil, examining its temporal and seasonal variations. Additionally, it seeks to investigate the influence of temperature and salinity on sound pressure levels (SPL) across three different frequency bands throughout the year. For data collection, two autonomous devices - a SoundTrap digital recorder and an F-POD sampler - were used. The data collection spanned from September 2020 to August 2021 and covered one consecutive week per season. The analysis of audio files was performed manually using Raven software. Sound emissions by Lahille's bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus) and fish were observed throughout the sampling period, with peak detections occurring during the summer and spring, respectively. Boat noise was detected throughout the year but more intensely in the summer. Generalized linear models (GLMs) revealed that, for the three SPL frequency bands, the season significantly influenced the composition of the PLE soundscape, with positive fluctuations in the warmer seasons (summer > spring > autumn > winter). Salinity, in turn, showed a slightly negative relationship with the SPL values in the three models, suggesting a decrease in frequencies with increasing salinity. Our results also indicate that the low-frequency SPL, originating mostly from various sources of anthropogenic noise, constitutes the main component of the PLE soundscape. In conclusion, our study provides novel insights into the temporal patterns of the soundscape in an urban estuary, including biotic and anthropogenic sounds, and their relationships with selected environmental variables.

Making sense of music: Insights from neurophysiology and connectivity analyses in naturalistic listening conditions

According to the latest frameworks, auditory perception and memory involve the constant prediction of future sound events by the brain, based on the continuous extraction of feature regularities from the environment. The neural hierarchical mechanisms for predictive processes in perception and memory for sounds are typically studied in relation to simple acoustic features in isolated sounds or sound patterns inserted in highly certain contexts. Such studies have identified reliable prediction formation and error signals, e.g., the N100 or the mismatch negativity (MMN) evoked responses. In real life, though, individuals often face situations in which uncertainty prevails and where making sense of sounds becomes a hard challenge. In music, not only deviations from predictions are masterly set up by composers to induce emotions but sometimes the sheer uncertainty of sound scenes is exploited for aesthetic purposes, especially in compositional styles such as Western atonal classical music. In very recent magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) studies, experimental and technical advances in stimulation paradigms and analysis approaches have permitted the identification of prediction-error responses from highly uncertain, atonal contexts and the extraction of prediction-related responses from real, continuous music. Moreover, functional connectivity analyses revealed the emergence of cortico-hippocampal interactions during the formation of auditory memories for more predictable vs. less predictable patterns. These findings contribute to understanding the general brain mechanisms that enable us to predict even highly uncertain sound environments and to possibly make sense of and appreciate even atonal music.

Does corporate ESG disclosure enhance investor relationship management? Evidence from China

AbstractThis study investigates the enhancing effect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure on investor relations management (IRM). The better the ESG disclosure, the higher the level of IRM. furthermore, this enhancement is achieved by reducing information asymmetry, improving information dissemination efficiency, and attracting investors attention, and it is more prominent in a sound institutional environment and a concentrated shareholding structure. Moreover, institutional investors show greater receptivity to ESG‐driven IRM compared to individual investors. Finally, we indicate that IRM is enhanced by ESG disclosure, ultimately fostering high‐quality corporate development. These findings provide valuable insights for promoting the standardisation of ESG disclosure and optimising IRM practices.

Experimental study on acoustic signal characteristic analysis and time delay estimation of pipeline leakage in boilers

Acoustic signal detection technology has significant advantages in detecting the leakage and bursting of heat exchange pipes in boilers. To address the current lack of sound signal data for steam medium leakages and the problem of large errors in the complex sound field environment of power plants, we performed an innovative experimental comparative analysis of leakage acoustic signals under a dual medium of compressed air and steam to provide a reference for detecting leakage acoustic signals. During the experiment, the time and frequency domains were analyzed by changing the pressure of the leakage pipeline and aperture of the leakage hole, and the spectrogram and power spectrum of the leakage acoustic signal were obtained using fast Fourier transform and autocorrelation analysis. The results showed that the signal value of the leakage medium increased with increasing pipeline pressure and leakage aperture and that the energy of the steam leakage acoustic signal was greater than that of compressed air under the same pressure and aperture because of its larger specific heat capacity. In addition, the complete empirical mode decomposition of adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) algorithm was introduced into the denoising decomposition of the leakage sound signal in the furnace, and the average error of the time delay value of the leakage acoustic signal calculated using the CEEMDAN algorithm was observed to be within 5%.

ADDRESSING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIVITY IN SOUNDSCAPE RESEARCH, DEVELOPING METHODOLOGIES FOR UNDER- AND NON-REPRESENTED PARTICIPANTS

Soundscape research has often struggled to deal with multidimensional phenomenological perception of the sound environment. When teaching sound related studies and conducting soundscape research, often little or no consideration is given to addressing the diversity of participants taking part in the class or study. For example, there is often no consideration made of a participant's hearing ability, with many of the standard methods and practices emphasising and assuming ‘normal’ hearing. There have been some studies with consideration of hearing impairment, but aural diversity is not all about impairment, diversity of unimpaired listeners can often be related to ‘quite basic mechanisms like pitch detection’ (DAVIES 2019). The consideration of diversity in soundscape research creates a further epistemological problem of perception. This paper discusses the author’s experience from their practice based research to start addressing the issues of inclusivity and diversity, suggesting how the creative industries can adapt existing methods and be at the forefront of new methods including gamification, social data collection and analysis, implementation of VR and AR in community studies, along with the consideration of adapting soundwalking into ‘soundsitting’, which can both raise awareness of the sound environment and obtain phenomenologically rich empirical data from inclusive and diverse under- and non-represented participants.

Concatenation-based pre-trained convolutional neural networks using attention mechanism for environmental sound classification

Environmental sound classification (ESC) is gaining popularity in the field of information processing due to its significance in non-speech audio categorization. ESC faces challenges in categorizing ambient sounds, which lack a clear structure, unlike speech or music sounds. Deep learning (DL) techniques are widely used in ESC to extract relevant information from ambient sounds, in which feature extraction is very crucial and directly impacts the classification performance. However, feature extraction can be computationally expensive, especially when employing complex non-linear techniques, due to the significant amount of computing resources required during the training process of DL models. Moreover, environmental sounds can exhibit significant variability in terms of their temporal and spectral characteristics, which can pose challenges to training DL models effectively. In order to overcome these limitations, this research proposes an efficient method for extracting meaningful features from audio files and improving DL techniques' performance using spectrogram images generated from sound environmental datasets. The proposed approach uses convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with attention mechanisms and appropriate data augmentation methods. Unlike pre-trained models that use a single vector for feature extraction, the proposed approach uses a new concatenation-based CNN model with attention mechanisms, which can more effectively capture intricate relationships between input data features. This approach allows for the extraction of features from different sectors of the feature space, resulting in a more precise classification of complex and diverse datasets. Additionally, the proposed approach leverages the parallel extraction feature technique to extract features from multiple CNN models, which improves classification performance. Furthermore, attention modules are used to focus on the most relevant features of the input data. Comparative experiments are also conducted for the proposed approach and some existing state-of-the-art methods, and the results show that the former has better classification performance.

Observing the Cultural Development of the Hammered Dulcimer in the Alpine Region through its Crafting, Materials, and Secrets

The makers of hammered dulcimers in the Appenzell (Switzerland) and Salzburg (Austria) regions are considered artisans of their very specialized craft. A trapezoidal wooden case with a bridge, the instrument is beautified with ornaments and symbols of religious and popular belief. Its sound is produced by a process mediated through several materials: the player uses small hammers struck by hand on several strings, the vibration of which is transmitted to a resonating body.In contrast, historically, the hammered dulcimer had strikingly negative associations: It was ‘devalued to a dance instrument’; ‘disgusting because of the great noise of sounds’; it ‘should be nailed to the houses of ill repute’ and ‘[he] who [...] is in the habit of playing on the dulcimer, may be a regular thief and robber’. Such rebukes – some of which notably addressed directly to the object, not to the players – contrast with contemporary perception and raise questions about relationships between the material object, its properties, and their relationship to perception.Through the detailed inspection of historical and contemporary specimens and their stories, we trace the transformation from the once shunned object to the artisanal work and carrier of cultural heritage. Dulcimers as ‘sensual objects’ (Harman) that transformed themselves and together with their associates: players, makers, and the sound environment. We trace the different allusions around the hammered dulcimer as objects to the crafting material, the stories from makers, and the artistic and symbolic emanation of the ornamentation. This further demands a critical reflection on the status of the craft and the material objects that exist to this day without digital technologies and in nondigital spaces.

A High Accuracy and Low Power CNN-Based Environmental Sound Classification Processor

A High Accuracy and Low Power CNN-Based Environmental Sound Classification Processor

Characterization of soundscape assessment in outdoor public spaces of urban high-rise residential communitiesa).

Soundscape perceptual models were developed in various contexts. However, as the outdoor public space in high-rise residential communities differs in terms of space planning and management, the soundscape perceptual characteristics are still unclear. In this study, an on-site survey was conducted to obtain the perceptual dimensions of soundscape in outdoor public spaces in urban high-rise residential communities based on evaluations of residents. Meantime, the soundscape of the space in different community layouts were compared. It was found that: (1) Four dimensions of outdoor soundscape in high-rise communities were extracted, namely Relaxation, Communication, Quietness, and Spatiality. The first three dimensions were positively correlated with overall soundscape satisfaction significantly. (2) Relaxation was mostly correlated with dominance of noise; Communication and Quietness were primarily related to sounds from human beings. (3) Lower traffic noise and higher levels of human sounds were perceived in enclosed communities, resulting in higher Relaxation and lower Quietness scores in outdoor public spaces in enclosed communities than non-enclosed ones. These findings evoke insights into the understanding of soundscape assessment in different contexts, and provide implications for sound environment design in urban high-rise communities.

Study on the effects of sound factors and their association with the psychological evaluation of thermal comforts

Humans have evaluated the living environment as a whole rather than based on individual factors. However, there are numerous ambiguities regarding the interrelationship between sound and thermal environment in actual living. In this research, we aimed to demonstrate the impact of sound and its association with a psychological evaluation of thermal comfort by exposing participants to sounds. We performed subjective evaluation experiments using the semantic differential method. A subjective investigation of the surrounding and sound environment using 30 pairs of evaluation items was conducted using the sound source of the fireplace. Additionally, we asked about the sound association and the clothing amount through free writing. In terms of evaluating the immediate surroundings, we compared the group that associated the sound with the fireplace appropriately with the group that did not: "Warm," "Comfortable," "Open," and three other components, and the subjective evaluation of the sound shifted significantly to the positive side in three items. As a result, it was revealed that sounds positively affected thermal comfort when associated appropriately. Furthermore, we clarified that associating sounds appropriately impacted the feeling of relaxation in the space.

Relationship between sound environments and worker's impression evaluation in open-plan offices Part 1: Development of the survey system and summary of the survey results

In recent years, the adaption of open-plan offices is increasing as they effectively improve intellectual productivity by fostering communication among workers. Many previous studies have clarified the relationship between a sound environment and intellectual productivity by having subjects work in constrained spaces such as meeting rooms or laboratories. However, little research has been conducted on the effects of a sound environment in office spaces where multiple workers actually work. In an open-plan office, the goal of this study is to clarify the relationship between a sound environment and a worker's impression evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to introduce our originally developed real-time sound environment measurement system and to describe the results of a measured survey conducted in an actual open-plan office.

Predictions for sound events and soundscape impressions from environmental sound using deep neural networks

In this study, we investigate methods for quantifying soundscape impressions, meaning pleasantness and eventfulness, from environmental sounds. From a point of view of Machine Learning (ML) research areas, acoustic scene classification (ASC) tasks and sound event classification (SEC) tasks are intensively studied and their results are helpful to consider soundscape impressions. In general, while most of ASCs and SECs use only sound for the classifications, a soundscape impression should not be perceived just from a sound but perceived from a sound with a landscape by human beings. Therefore, to establish automatic quantification of soundscape impressions, it should use other information such as landscape in addition to sound. First, we tackle to predict of two soundscape impressions using sound data collected by the cloud sensing method. For this purpose, we have proposed prediction method of soundscape impressions using environmental sounds and aerial photographs. Second, we also tackle to establish environmental sound classification using feature extractor trained by Variational Autoencoder (VAE). The feature extractor by VAE can be trained as unsupervised learning, therefore, it could be promising approaches for the growth dataset like as our cloud-sensing data collection schemes. Finally, we discuss about an integration for these methods.

Influence of changes in the sound environment when conversation is interrupted on facilitation of conversation

To construct a method for activating meetings on knowledge creative activity by feedback control of the sound environment according to the meeting situation, the experiment simulating a meeting was conducted to examine the facilitation effect of conversation by changing the sound environment at the break in conversation. To form a meeting from subjects with different social attributes, the experiment was conducted in groups of four people including office workers and students. The results of the experiment on the five groups showed that the students tended to improve their evaluations of the ease of conversation and mental burden by changing the sound environment when there was a break in the conversation. Based on the result that students tended to be more nervous than office workers under the experimental condition in which the sound environment was not changed, it is possible that changing the sound environment when conversation is interrupted has a positive effect on people who have higher tension due to relationship with other attendees. On the other hand, it was suggested that students' evaluation of ease of work was more susceptible to changes in the sound environment because they spent more time listening to other subjects' statement than office workers.

The sound environment as moderator of taste perception in fruit juice drinking experience

One of the most multisensory experiences in our daily life is eating and drinking. Modifying external sensory properties (such as auditory stimuli) has been proposed as a promising framework for modulating taste perception. To this aim, it is relevant exploring the characteristic of the sound environment where people usually consume the juice that can moderate the taste perception in drinking fruit juice. This research conducted the juice tasting experiment focusing on individuals' flavour perception while listening to 7 sound environments in a controlled multisensory laboratory (Sens i-lab). The soundtracks were examined using several psychoacoustics parameters. such as, sound pressure level, loudness, Sharpness, Roughness, fluctuation, tonality, and Prominence were analysed. Correlation analysis reveal several patterns between the average taste rating of the orange juice and the psychometrics of 7 environmental sounds: for example. Sweet flavour of orange juice was negatively correlated with sound level, Roughness, and sound Prominence. Vice versa, sour flavour was positively correlated with the sound level, Roughness, and the average sound fluctuation. Further, the freshness of juice has negative correlation with sound Roughness and the juice thickness rating was negatively correlated with the average Sharpness of sound environment.

Augmented-reality visual presentation of sounds for deaf and hard of hearing people

To support deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people by helping them detect environmental sounds in their dwellings, evaluation experiments on environmental sound recognition using a visualization device were conducted. The current study proposes an augmented reality-based system for presenting household sounds to DHH people as visual information. The effect of displaying both the icons indicating sounds classified by machine learning and a dynamic spectrogram indicating the real-time time-frequency characteristics of the environmental sounds were examined. The results confirmed that the comfort of daily life in residential spaces can be improved by combining not only the classification results of machine learning but also the real-time display of spectrograms.

Interactive soundscape design in enhancing perceived safety in urban spaces at night

Based on previous findings relating soundscape to the psychological perception of urban pedestrians at night, this study selected several typical nighttime urban spaces that are prone to trigger crime panic emotions for the experiment, and used an interactive soundscape adjustment method in which respondents independently mixed and adjusted six types of sound levels to obtain the combination of sound environments most conducive to a sense of safety, while completing the pre- and post-optimised sound environment safety The perception research questionnaire was also completed. The results show that the soundscape created by people has a positive effect on the perception of safety. Footsteps and conversations were the most popular sounds in the soundscape mix, and the results inform the development of a friendly sound environment for the city at night, increasing interaction with the urban public space by enhancing the perception of safety of pedestrians at night. Interactive soundscape design is more effective in enhancing safety in parkland than in street spaces and river walkways. Key words: Perceived safety, Interactive adjustment, Soundscape Creation

State estimation for sound environment system by using Bayesian filter based on fuzzy observation

The specific signal in a sound environment is measured in decibel scale and often contains the fuzziness due to several causes. Furthermore, there exists usually a background noise in addition to the specific signal. In this study, a Bayesian filter for estimating the specific signal, based on the observed data containing the fuzziness and the effects of a background noise with non-Gaussian type, is proposed. More specifically, the energy variables satisfying the additive property of the specific signal and background noise are first considered. Next, after introducing an expansion expression of the probability density function based on a log-normal distribution and a new type of membership function, which are suitable for the nonlinear relationship between the energy variable and the measurement in decibel scale, by applying probability measure of fuzzy events, a state estimation method is theoretically derived. The proposed theory is applied to the actual observation data in a sound environment, and its usefulness is experimentally confirmed.