Audio scene analysis and soundscape perception have been of interest to many researchers in room acoustics, urban sound design, and audio processing. This article presents an analysis and interpretation of soundscape perceptions of a public confined eating space. Based on a realistic setting of a campus restaurant, a 220-subject survey was conducted where various auditory complexity perceptions were queried as the space went from empty to full occupancy. The responses to five aspects of auditory complexity perception are investigated via an on-site survey: the level of auditory attention, soundscape complexity, sound nuisance due to objects, that due to human voices, and the ease of carrying on a discussion in the restaurant. The audio recordings of the changing restaurant soundscape were examined for objective signal complexity changes, via first- and second-order entropy dynamics, in a search for tendencies that align with the subjective study. Nonmonotic changes of these perceptions were noted with increasing occupancy levels. Various physical, spatial, and human factors, which are in constant interaction to form a composite experience and therefore a complex soundscape, all of which play a contributing role.
Click to purchase paper as a non-member or you can login as an AES member to see more options.
No AES members have commented on this report yet.
To be notified of new comments on this report you can
subscribe to this RSS feed.
Forum users should login to see additional options.
If you are not yet an AES member and have something important to say about this report then we urge you to join the AES today and make your voice heard. You can join online today by clicking here.
