Sound Experience Research Articles

Sounds of Nature and Hearing Loss: A Call to Action.

The ability to monitor surrounding natural sounds and scenes is important for performing many activities in daily life and for overall well-being. Yet, unlike speech, perception of natural sounds and scenes is relatively understudied in relation to hearing loss, despite the documented restorative health effects. We present data from first-time hearing aid users describing "rediscovered" natural sounds they could now perceive with clarity. These data suggest that hearing loss not only diminishes recognition of natural sounds, but also limits people's awareness of the richness of their environment, thus limiting their connection to it. Little is presently known about the extent hearing aids can restore the perception of abundance, clarity, or intensity of natural sounds. Our call to action outlines specific steps to improve the experience of natural sounds and scenes for people with hearing loss-an overlooked aspect of their quality of life.

Nature and nurture in fruit fly hearing

As for human language learning and birdsong acquisition, fruit flies adjust their auditory perception based on past sound experiences. This phenomenon is known as song preference learning in flies. Recent advancements in omics databases, such as the single-cell transcriptome and brain connectomes, have been integrated into traditional molecular genetics, making the fruit fly an outstanding model for studying the neural basis of “Nature and Nurture” in auditory perception and behaviors. This minireview aims to provide an overview of song preference in flies, including the nature of the phenomenon and its underlying neural mechanisms. Specifically, we focus on the neural circuitry involved in song preference learning, with which auditory experiences shape the song preference of flies. This shaping process depends on an integration hub that processes external sensory stimuli and internal states to enable flexible control of behavior. We also briefly review recent findings on the signals that feed into this integration hub, modulating song preference of flies in an experience-dependent manner.

Assessing the indoor soundscape approach among university students' home study places

University students spend a considerable time at study places. The acoustical quality of these study places is one of the indoor environmental qualities (IEQ) that can have an impact on student's health, comfort, and performance. The indoor soundscape approach has been introduced to better understand occupants' sound perception and experience of sounds in relation to the environment. This study aims to explore the indoor soundscapes of home study places of these students by conducting semi-structured interviews with 23 university students with different profiles. For qualitative analysis, open coding was used. Sub-categories, based on the codes, and categories were created and assigned to the soundscape themes that are defined in ISO 12913-1. An affinity diagram consisting of the themes, categories, and sub-categories was initially developed. Then, it was validated through two workshops with participants. The results showed that the interpretation of the sound environment, responses, and outcomes differed among the students. In a previous study, 451 students were clustered in 5 clusters with similar acoustical preferences (profiles). Therefore, it is recommended to consider making the indoor soundscape approach applicable for different profiles of occupants.

Sonagining the workspace : a user-centric workshop

The Laboratoire d'Expériences du Bureau (LEB) is designed as an experimental, educational and experiential space for workspace designers. Its purpose is to provide a better understanding of the implications of design choices on the likely sound experience of people at work. Equipped with a set of mobile acoustic devices, an sound ambience generator software and a multi-channel sound system, it reproduces a range of sound phenomena and immerses listeners in a range of sound ambiences in a work situation. Users are helped to gradually become aware, through sound experience, of the implications of their design choices. The process is part of a research approach to the design of sound devices based on the ideation of new paradigms and the modeling of hypothesis. This article intends to present the key concepts of the project, how it differs from other comparable approaches, its state of progress as well as the limits and difficulties encountered.

Designing for sonic citizenship in Danish nursing homes

With the aim of improving the soundscape in Danish nursing homes, this paper explores how a sonic citizenship perspective can be unfolded and discussed through a design-oriented research approach. Based on the experiences from an intervention study we argue that this perspective is important in expanding the focus further than formulating final solutions and making citizens proactive beyond the transformation phase. Building on thorough analysis of 45 nursing home soundscapes various interventions were implemented in 8 nursing homes from 2022-23. Evaluation of the interventions, through a mixed-method study, showed major improvements in perceived soundscape assessment. Through interventions that attenuate unwanted institutional sounds and introduce positive sound experiences, a better balance is found between foreground and background sounds, increasing the appropriateness of the soundscapes. The assessment also showed how the improvement of the soundscapes is closely connected to the engagement and behavioral changes of the staff and how they attune themselves to the soundscape. In that regard, the authors wish to emphasize the importance of anchoring soundscape interventions in the culture, and routines of the people being and living in the environments, to make sustainable changes in an environment and empower staff to become sonic citizens.

How to deal with unsuspected source of annoyance in electric vehicle cabin using the "sonic augmented" concept?

The disappearance of the main source of noise with electric vehicles resulted in a breakthrough in car cabin sound experience. Despite significantly lowering the sound level pressure, one cannot claim perfect quietness is achieved. Indeed, as the auditory masking produced by the internal combustion engine is not effective anymore, unsuspected sounds such as electric whistling, whining or switching are now part of this sound environment and may be identified as unpleasant sounds. However, drivers' expectations are to have audible feedback indicative of vehicle operation that matches their expectations. Therefore, the presence of unwanted and unpleasant sounds, on the one hand, and the absence of desired and informative sounds, on the other hand, is an opportunity for sound design to create a new sound environment inside car cabins. The present work proposes a "sonic augmented" concept based on the idea of adding designed sounds, called "masks", participating both in the overall soundscape augmentation and in the attenuation of unpleasant sounds, called "defects". Sound design strategies with different parametrizations will be presented, as well as the results of two perceptive experiments whit the aims at evaluating the impact on perceptive attenuation of "defects" and the overall sound quality.

Predictive filtering of sensory response via orbitofrontal top-down input.

Habituation is a crucial sensory filtering mechanism whose dysregulation can lead to a continuously intense world in disorders with sensory overload. While habituation is considered to require top-down predictive signaling to suppress irrelevant inputs, the exact brain loci storing the internal predictive model and the circuit mechanisms of sensory filtering remain unclear. We found that daily neural habituation in the primary auditory cortex (A1) was reversed by inactivation of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Top-down projections from the ventrolateral OFC, but not other frontal areas, carried predictive signals that grew with daily sound experience and suppressed A1 via somatostatin-expressing inhibitory neurons. Thus, prediction signals from the OFC cancel out behaviorally irrelevant anticipated stimuli by generating their "negative images" in sensory cortices.

The contribution of “the aesthetic” and “the sensitive” in the formation of early childhood

The study of musical formation has been a topic of interest in the educational field, as it has allowed us to recognize the importance it has in human development as a possibility of experiencing “the aesthetic” and “the sensitive.” This researchaimed to understand how these concepts contribute to the processes of formation of corporeality in early childhood. Through the observation and description of musical and sound experiences, and the interpretation of these, three trends were obtained that occurred in the aesthetic exchanges during the execution of musical and sound workshops applied in the preparationof this study, which are the manifestation of the sensitivities, corporalities and family ties of infants. To arrive at such descriptions, an observation grid was developed that accounted for the how and why of the behaviors that belong to “the aesthetic” and “the sensitive” and what is observable about them through a qualitative-interpretive approach. Through thedescription, information was obtained that facilitated the reconstruction of the reality of those who were observed and interpretations were generated. This research did not aim to find answers or data represented in numbers and measurements, but rather through observation, part and parcel of the life experiences of the universe studied was realized. Once such manifestations of aesthetic exchanges are described and interpreted, the idea about the relationship between “the sensitive” and “the aesthetic” from the musical and the sound in the early childhood training processes is developed and it is demonstrated that the body, experiences, sounds, discoveries, spontaneity, words, melodies, singularity, are links that mesh with each other within the learning process, thus having to transcend the context of the artistic area, so that it also makes part of the entire training task. For all of the above, it is clear that the method used for this study is qualitative and is also a hermeneutic approach, since it promises to provide interpretations, appropriations and compressions of various experiences or realities such as the observed experiences.

Unfolding dynamics in the perception of interior vehicle acoustics via continuous evaluation procedure (CEP)

The evaluation of a soundscape is a challenging task as the object of study is not a stationary event of sensation but rather a dynamic and complex scene stretching over a specific period. To do justice to the time dimension in such acoustic scenes, we utilized the Continuous Evaluation Procedure (CEP). Extending common standard instruments asking participants for a singular integral at the end of the sound experience (e.g., on a rating scale), the participants in this study were enabled to continuously evaluate the evolving acoustic scene of accelerating electrified vehicles (EVs) using CEP. With the increasing electrification of powertrains in the automotive industry, acoustic engineers face the challenge of defining innovative sounds using the availabilities of now low-noise emission platforms of EVs that deviate in their noise profiles from familiar but technologically outdated internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), which have defined the general sound schemes for more than a century. To capture dynamic aspects in the quality perception of powertrain noise in EVs, we asked 37 participants to evaluate acoustic recordings of different vehicles in varying acceleration modes in a high-quality three-dimensional (3D) acoustic simulator. Thereby, we revealed much more detailed and time-dependent quality aspects, which do not come forth in an integral singular measure (ISM) where all impressions experienced during the ongoing acoustic scene are blended together. We, therefore, propagate the systematic application of the CEP method when it comes to the qualitative evaluation of transient acoustic scenes. CEP opens the great opportunity to unfold, detect, and analyze dynamic effects in soundscapes and noise profiles, but of any kind of acoustic signal.

SOR 이론을 기반으로 한 복합형 오프라인 서점에서 사용자의 몰입감에 영향을 미치는 요인에 관한 연구

This study focuses on the challenges faced by traditional offline bookstores and the rising t rend of composite offline bookstores. It aims to explore the factors that affect customer sati sfaction in composite offline bookstores and reveal their influencing mechanisms. The impa ct of visual, auditory, environmental and technological factors on customer immersion and satisfaction in a complex offline bookstore was studied through questionnaires and observati on methods. Research results show that visual factors, auditory factors, environmental facto rs and technological factors have a direct impact on user immersion, and immersion also h as a direct impact on user satisfaction. Furthermore, immersion mediated the relationship b etween visual, auditory, environmental and technological factors and satisfaction, with full mediation between sound factors and satisfaction. Based on the research results, this study puts forward strategic suggestions such as optimizing the bookstore environment design, str engthening the sound experience, and focusing on creating a sense of immersion, in order to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, and enhance the bookstore's competitiveness and sustainable development capabilities.

2D3-5 Generation of clap sound with enveloping sense using four loudspeakers to realize a live sound experience

2D3-5 Generation of clap sound with enveloping sense using four loudspeakers to realize a live sound experience

The design and implementation of a novel music-based curriculum for dementia care professionals: The experience of SOUND in Italy, Portugal and Romania

BackgroundThe positive effects of active and passive music activities on older people with dementia are well and largely documented by the literature. Nevertheless, the use of music as a non-pharmacological intervention is not so common both in private and public older people care facilities because in-home staff have no competencies for delivering such activities. Conversely, the realization and implementation of a co-designed music-based curriculum for dementia care professionals may help the diffusion of music in the older people care facilities. This study was aimed at evaluating the learning outcomes of the SOUND training, based on an original co-designed music-based curriculum for dementia care professionals and implemented in Italy, Portugal and Romania.MethodsThe SOUND training study was developed through three phases: a) the co-design of the music-based curriculum for dementia care professionals, involving 55 people in the three participating countries; b) the teaching of the training curriculum to 63 dementia care professionals (29 in Italy, 17 in Portugal and 17 in Romania), delivered both in person and via a Moodle platform named Virtual Music Circle; c) the learning outcomes assessment, carried out by means of 13 self-evaluation tests, and a practical test, and the trainees’ course evaluation by a questionnaire.ResultsMost of the trainees reached the highest score in the evaluation of the theoretical competencies in the three study countries. Conversely, some practical competencies in the facilitation of music activities need to be fine-tuned. The SOUND training course was evaluated very positively in the overall structure, theoretical contents, and practical workshops by the trainees. Nevertheless, they preferred the face-to-face compared to the distance learning methodology in the three countries.ConclusionsThe SOUND training curriculum was effective in teaching music techniques and neurocognitive knowledge to dementia care professionals. Nevertheless, future courses should be differentiated for dementia care professionals with or without previous music knowledge and competencies. Moreover, the course is fully sustainable, because it does not require additional costs given that the curriculum is fully accessible online and it is also replicable because it trains professionals who can continue to apply the method in their working routine.

Analysis of Communication Characteristics and Social Impact of Short Video News

Due to the rapid development of science and technology, new media are more and more prevalent, and the mode of news dissemination has also undergone great changes. As a new type of news and information dissemination carrier, short video has rapidly become an important way for the public to obtain news and information by virtue of the advantages of concise content, rapid dissemination, multiple visual and sound experience, and strong interactivity. This paper analyzes the impact of short video news on society from the communication characteristics of short video news, in order to provide useful reference for the development of short video news.

94‐1: Study on the Listening Room Sound Quality of OLED Thin Actuator Panel Speaker

Thin and light design, picture quality and sound quality are important factors in TVs and monitors. Recently, a monitor speaker has been developed that provides a new sound experience combining an electrostatic thin actuator to vibrate the OLED display and an electrodynamic woofer. However there are limitations in evaluating sound quality of this technology because the existing international standards are speaker unit evaluation method based on an anechoic chamber environment. In this study, we propose a sound quality measurement method that can reflect the listening environment of monitor customers based on the new IEC standard and share the results of OLED thin actuator panel speaker.

Into the Rhythm: Evaluating Breathing Instruction Sound Experiences on the Run with Novice Female Runners

Running is a popular sport throughout the world. Breathing strategies like stable breathing and slow breathing can positively influence the runner’s physiological and psychological experiences. Sonic breathing instructions are an established, unobtrusive method used in contexts such as exercise and meditation. We argue sound to be a viable approach for administering breathing strategies whilst running. This paper describes two laboratory studies using within-subject designs that investigated the usage of sonic breathing instructions with novice female runners. The first study (N = 11) examined the effect of information richness of five different breathing instruction sounds on adherence and user experience. The second study (N = 11) explored adherence and user experience of sonically more enriched sounds, and aimed to increase the sonic experience. Results showed that all sounds were effective in stabilizing the breathing rate (study 1 and 2, respectively: mean absolute percentage error = 1.16 ± 1.05% and 1.9 ± 0.11%, percent time attached = 86.81 ± 9.71% and 86.18 ± 11.96%). Information-rich sounds were subjectively more effective compared to information-poor sounds (mean ratings: 7.55 ± 1.86 and 5.36 ± 2.42, respectively). All sounds scored low (mean < 5/10) on intention to use.

Exploring experiences and challenges in implementing youth participatory action research in Norwegian lower secondary schools

ABSTRACT Most empirical knowledge on the processes and challenges of conducting youth participatory action research (YPAR) in the school setting stems from research in the US; only a few studies exist among European youth. In addition, what youth participation looks like in YPAR is rarely described. The present study investigates the experiences of implementing a Junior-researcher YPAR initiative from the perspectives of students and teachers in five ninth-grade classes in Norway. We also observed two of the classes throughout the process. The findings from interviews and observations showed that the Junior-researcher mostly promoted a sound experience of participation and knowledge production among the students. However, students and teachers were not familiarized with a YPAR designed to promote unstructured learning methods and student autonomy, or to limit teacher involvement. The present results illustrate some of the challenges youth participatory approaches may face in a school context.

Neural response properties predict perceived contents and locations elicited by intracranial electrical stimulation of human auditory cortex.

Intracranial electrical stimulation (iES) of auditory cortex can elicit sound experiences with a variety of perceived contents (hallucination or illusion) and locations (contralateral or bilateral side), independent of actual acoustic inputs. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this elicitation heterogeneity remain undiscovered. Here, we collected subjective reports following iES at 3062 intracranial sites in 28 patients (both sexes) and identified 113 auditory cortical sites with iES-elicited sound experiences. We then decomposed the sound-induced intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) signals recorded from all 113 sites into time-frequency features. We found that the iES-elicited perceived contents can be predicted by the early high-γ features extracted from sound-induced iEEG. In contrast, the perceived locations elicited by stimulating hallucination sites and illusion sites are determined by the late high-γ and long-lasting α features, respectively. Our study unveils the crucial neural signatures of iES-elicited sound experiences in human and presents a new strategy to hearing restoration for individuals suffering from deafness.

Experiencing Sounds in Ancient Spaces: An Overview

This paper aims to analyse recent studies which have raised new hypotheses concerning archaeomusicology, archaeoacoustics, and aural architecture as an emerging trend in humanities research, with a particular focus on the intersection of musical performances, theatrical spaces, and sound experience in the past. These studies have highlighted how theatrical buildings not only defined a place for performances, but also established the setting for multisensorial events in which music, dance, and other sonic events played an important role. This overview also takes into consideration how digital technologies can help shape our understanding of the architecture-sound nexus.

Exploring the Potential of Virtual Environment for Electric Vehicle: Study Case and Sound Quality Performance

The consequent growth in the production and deployment of electric vehicles (EV), has urged a reassessment of the interior sound experience for these vehicles. To address the issue, this research employs a virtual environment (VE) with a circular array of eight loudspeakers and visual projection to recreate the soundscape of the EV cabin. The validity of the simulator is evaluated by respondents both in the real cabin and VE. Two stimuli were reproduced in VE: 1. Stimuli with the same sound pressure level (SPL) as the cabin, 2. Stimuli's SPL is lowered by 9.5 dB. Data shows that by reducing the SPL, VE implied a closer perception of the real cabin soundscape. Furthermore, T-test and Pairwise Comparisons results indicate that the VE is able to reconstruct several perception parameters of car cabin soundscape with no significant differences. Parameter classification is also done with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reconfirm data behavior. These outcomes confirm that VE is possible to be a tool for modifying the sound design of armored electric SUVs with requiring deliberation on some factors.

Sound field control in a rectangular closed space using multiple selected room modes

Sound field control using multiple loudspeakers is essential for many applications such as sound field reproduction for delivering an immersive sound experience and noise control. These sound field controls are generally required in closed spaces, such as living rooms or factories, where eigenmodes are prominent at low frequencies. Many studies on the control of a few modes in closed spaces have been conducted in the field of noise control. In this study, we attempted to reproduce arbitrary sound fields, such as plane and spherical waves, from virtual sound sources using simultaneous multiple eigenmodes based on room-mode matching (RMM). Because most rooms are generally considered rectangular at low frequencies, we expanded the target sound field with discrete cosine transform (DCT) by approximating the eigenmodes as cosine functions. We proposed a method for extracting the control modes necessary to reproduce the desired sound field considering the mode strength at a target frequency. The simulation results verified that the proposed method can reproduce propagating plane waves with loudspeaker arrays placed on both sides of the closed space while maintaining the loudspeaker filter gains at appropriate values.