Evaluation of acoustical conditions for speech communication in working elementary school classrooms

Detailed acoustical measurements were made in 41 working elementary school classrooms near Ottawa, Canada to obtain more representative and more accurate indications of the acoustical quality of conditions for speech communication during actual teaching activities. This paper describes the room acoustics characteristics and noise environment of 27 traditional rectangular classrooms from the 41 measured rooms. The purpose of the work was to better understand how to improve speech communication between teachers and students. The study found, that on average, the students experienced: teacher speech levels of 60.4 dB A, noise levels of 49.1 dB A, and a mean speech-to-noise ratio of 11 dB A during teaching activities. The mean reverberation time in the occupied classrooms was 0.41 s, which was 10% less than in the unoccupied rooms. The reverberation time measurements were used to determine the average absorption added by each student. Detailed analyses of early and late-arriving speech sounds showed these sound levels could be predicted quite accurately and suggest improved approaches to room acoustics design.     

Speech interference in food courts of shopping centres

The acoustics of food courts were investigated. Maximum A-weighted sound pressure levels (SPLs) were defined, based on studies of quality of communication among people in noisy places. A survey in twelve food courts was carried out and two case studies were selected, which presented poor quality of communication. An analytical formula to evaluate the SPL was employed and good agreement was obtained between these evaluations and in situ measurements. However, further studies would be necessary to confirm the applicability of the analytical procedure since it was assumed in the calculations that the sound field was diffuse. Noise from other sources apart from speech significantly affected the SPL and it appears that this is the main aspect to be tackled in the acoustical design. Potential improvements on the acoustics of these enclosures were investigated. Several arrangements of absorbent materials were considered and application on the ceiling was generally the best option.     

Subjective and objective assessment of acoustical and overall environmental quality in secondary school classrooms

A subjective survey on perceived environmental quality has been carried out on 51 secondary-school classrooms, some of which have been acoustically renovated, and acoustical measurements were carried out in eight of the 51 classrooms, these eight being representative of the different types of classrooms that are the subject of the survey. A questionnaire, which included items on overall quality and its single aspects such as acoustical, thermal, indoor air and visual quality, has been administered to 1006 students. The students perceived that acoustical and visual quality had the most influence on their school performance and, with the same dissatisfaction for acoustical, thermal and indoor air quality, they attributed more relevance, in the overall quality judgment, to the acoustical condition. Acoustical quality was correlated to speech comprehension, which was correlated to the speech transmission index, even though the index does not reflect all the aspects by which speech comprehension can be influenced. Acoustical satisfaction was lower in nonrenovated classrooms, and one of the most important consequences of poor acoustics was a decrease in concentration. The stronger correlation between average noise disturbance scores and L(A max) levels, more than L(Aeq) and L(A90), showed that students were more disturbed by intermittent than constant noise.     

Loudness criteria in auditorium acoustics

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Speech related acoustical parameters in classrooms and their relationships

A survey on the speech related acoustical parameters in the Hong Kong classrooms having standardized architectural layouts is carried out in the present study. Results suggest that these acoustical parameters are highly correlated with each other even across different octave bands. It is also found that the relationships between parameters of different kinds do not depend on the frequency bands. Besides, the present results indicate that the sound pulse decay inside a not very reverberant classroom consists of an initial fast decay, leading to deviations of the field survey results from those predicted by the exponential decay under the uniform sound energy decay assumption. It is believed that the strong correlations between the various speech related acoustical parameters and the regression information obtained in the present study can help the estimation of the speech quality of the classrooms in the design stage.     

Speech transmission performance and the effect of acoustical remedies in a dome

For the purpose of improving speech transmission performance in a dome space, the acoustical properties in a dome having a diameter of 20 m were examined. The acoustical properties measured evenly on the floor of the dome were evaluated both objectively and subjectively and the interrelationship of the objective measures and subjective measures were also examined. Then, on the basis of the results of the study, simplified acoustical remedies were applied to the dome to improve speech intelligibility and the effect of the remedies was also examined. The following findings were obtained from this investigation.(1) The speech transmission performance in the dome space without treatment by absorptive materials varies greatly with the locations of sound sources and observation points: a range of 0.17-0.59 for RASTI value and a range of 30-97% for speech intelligibility test results. (2) There are peculiar observation points at which speech transmission quality is very high due to a considerable sum of the energy arriving in the first 0.06 s after the arrival of the direct sound. (3) Of all the measured acoustical parameters, RASTI, EDT in 1 kHz band, early-to-late arriving sound energy ratio, and Ts corresponded well to the speech intelligibility test scores. (4) Rubber tiles, cotton canvas 12 m in length, and glass wool board, are effective in improving speech intelligibility remarkably due to increased sound absorption and the diffusion effect.     

Fifteen years' experience with computerized ray tracing

A computer program is described which displays the space, time and directional distribution of energy in a room. The program has been used in room acoustical planning and in the design of sound reinforcement systems.     

声纳导流罩吸声障板声学特性的研究

本文研究内容属于舰艇声兼容性技术研究的一部分。应用声学软件SYSNOISE计算了,声纳定向发射时某试验用声纳导流罩及尾部吸声障板的声场特性,同时进行相同工况的水下模型试验。计算结果与试验结果吻合良好,说明应用声学软件对声纳声场进行计算是一种可行的方法,有可能推广至其他的水下模型的声场计算。结果数据反映了吸声障板对声纳定向发射时声场的影响,为舰艇总体声纳导流罩内吸声障板的结构设计、声兼容设计提供依据。     

Rating,ranking, and understanding acoustical quality in university classrooms

Nonoptimal classroom acoustical conditions directly affect speech perception and, thus, learning by students. Moreover, they may lead to voice problems for the instructor, who is forced to raise his/her voice when lecturing to compensate for poor acoustical conditions. The project applied previously developed simplified methods to predict speech intelligibility in occupied classrooms from measurements in unoccupied and occupied university classrooms. The methods were used to predict the speech intelligibility at various positions in 279 University of British Columbia (UBC) classrooms, when 70% occupied, and for four instructor voice levels. Classrooms were classified and rank ordered by acoustical quality, as determined by the room-average speech intelligibility. This information was used by UBC to prioritize classrooms for renovation. Here, the statistical results are reported to illustrate the range of acoustical qualities found at a typical university. Moreover, the variations of quality with relevant classroom acoustical parameters were studied to better understand the results. In particular, the factors leading to the best and worst conditions were studied. It was found that 81% of the 279 classrooms have "good," "very good," or "excellent" acoustical quality with a "typical" (average-male) instructor. However, 50 (18%) of the classrooms had "fair" or "poor" quality, and two had "bad" quality, due to high ventilation-noise levels. Most rooms were "very good" or "excellent" at the front, and "good" or "very good" at the back. Speech quality varied strongly with the instructor voice level. In the worst case considered, with a quiet female instructor, most of the classrooms were "bad" or "poor." Quality also varies with occupancy, with decreased occupancy resulting in decreased quality. The research showed that a new classroom acoustical design and renovation should focus on limiting background noise. They should promote high instructor speech levels at the back of the classrooms. This involves, in part, limiting the amount of sound absorption that is introduced into classrooms to control reverberation. Speech quality is not very sensitive to changes in reverberation, so controlling it for its own sake should not be a design priority.     

On the importance of early reflections for speech in rooms

This paper presents the results of new studies based on speech intelligibility tests in simulated sound fields and analyses of impulse response measurements in rooms used for speech communication. The speech intelligibility test results confirm the importance of early reflections for achieving good conditions for speech in rooms. The addition of early reflections increased the effective signal-to-noise ratio and related speech intelligibility scores for both impaired and nonimpaired listeners. The new results also show that for common conditions where the direct sound is reduced, it is only possible to understand speech because of the presence of early reflections. Analyses of measured impulse responses in rooms intended for speech show that early reflections can increase the effective signal-to-noise ratio by up to 9 dB. A room acoustics computer model is used to demonstrate that the relative importance of early reflections can be influenced by the room acoustics design.     

Index for vehicle acoustical comfort inside a passenger car

Sound quality is among the main factors that influence customers’ preference for choosing good automobile products. It all started more than 10 years ago and grows up so fast due to high competition in the automotive industries. A-weighted noise levels and sound power are usually utilised to measure the noise but they are not adequate to characterise the impact sound inside a car. The most popular approach to determine sound quality of a product is to define an annoyance or specific index, which involves both subjective and objective evaluations. Subjective and objective tests should be studied concurrently in order to determine the sound quality inside a passenger car. This approach is used in this paper to evaluate vehicle comfort index according to most frequently used sound quality metrics, namely; Zwicker loudness, sharpness, roughness and fluctuation strength. As a result researchers of different fields of automotive acoustics investigations can use this index according to the type of road (international road roughness) without any need to perform time-consuming jury tests. The metrics are correlated with jury test results that show which of them and how much has affected the acoustical comfort of the vehicle. The relation between road roughness and vehicle acoustical comfort index is another point of interest in this research.     

船舶球鼻艏导流罩声障板参数对艉部声场的影响

本文研究了声障板相关参数对球鼻艏导流罩内声纳艉部声场的影响。对某舰缩比模型罩建立了有限元模型，然后运用有限元法声学分析软件，计算了某些频率下声源定向发射的声衰减特性和声场特性。计算结果与已进行的模型罩消声水池的试验结果吻合良好。     

Assessment model of classroom acoustics criteria for enhancing speech intelligibility and learning quality

In this paper, a new classroom acoustics assessment model (CAAM) based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for enhancing speech intelligibility and learning quality is proposed. The model is based on five main criteria that affect the learning process and related to classrooms acoustical properties. These include classroom specifications, noise sources inside and outside the classroom, teaching style, and vocal effort. The priority and weights of these major criteria along with their alternatives are identified using the views of students, staff, education consultants, and expertise by using a developed questionnaire, and the AHP methodology. This model can be considered as a helpful framework enabling universities decision makers to take effective decisions on classroom acoustics treatment issues. It also provides colleges’ higher authorities the suitable guidelines that help for determining necessary requirements that help to raise the quality and efficiency of the educational environment; in order to reach an excellent learning environment; and hence increasing students learning outcomes.     

Acoustic impedance of perforated panels covered by membranes

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Statistical properties of Chinese phonemic networks

The study of properties of speech sound systems is of great significance in understanding the human cognitive mechanism and the working principles of speech sound systems. Some properties of speech sound systems, such as the listener-oriented feature and the talker-oriented feature, have been unveiled with the statistical study of phonemes in human languages and the research of the interrelations between human articulatory gestures and the corresponding acoustic parameters. With all the phonemes of speech sound systems treated as a coherent whole, our research, which focuses on the dynamic properties of speech sound systems in operation, investigates some statistical parameters of Chinese phoneme networks based on real text and dictionaries. The findings are as follows: phonemic networks have high connectivity degrees and short average distances; the degrees obey normal distribution and the weighted degrees obey power law distribution; vowels enjoy higher priority than consonants in the actual operation of speech sound systems; the phonemic networks have high robustness against targeted attacks and random errors. In addition, for investigating the structural properties of a speech sound system, a statistical study of dictionaries is conducted, which shows the higher frequency of shorter words and syllables and the tendency that the longer a word is, the shorter the syllables composing it are. From these structural properties and dynamic properties one can derive the following conclusion: the static structure of a speech sound system tends to promote communication efficiency and save articulation effort while the dynamic operation of this system gives preference to reliable transmission and easy recognition. In short, a speech sound system is an effective, efficient and reliable communication system optimized in many aspects.     

全国声学标准化技术委员会的发展与国家声学基础测量方法标准体系建设

首先回顾了全国声学标准化技术委员会自1980年成立以来,在国家声学标准制、修订方面所取得的一批重要的标准研究成果。经过全国声学领域历届委员和专家30年来的共同努力,截止2009年共制、修订声学方面国家标准166项次,形成了目前归口声标委管理的131项现行有效的国家标准,由此也建立了涵盖声学基础、噪声、建筑声学、超水声四大类标准的国家声学基础测量方法标准体系。这些声学基础测量方法标准体系与国家声环境质量、噪声排放等环保标准和工程建设标准、电声和音视频等标准共同构成了较为完整的国家声学标准体系。最后结合声标委今后要开展的标准工作,提出了进一步完善国家声学基础测量方法标准体系的细部构想,可以相信,将来随着这些标准的陆续出台,我国声学标准体系会更趋完善。      

Equal autophonic level curves under different room acoustics conditions

The indirect auditory feedback from one's own voice arises from sound reflections at the room boundaries or from sound reinforcement systems. The relative variations of indirect auditory feedback are quantified through room acoustic parameters such as the room gain and the voice support, rather than the reverberation time. Fourteen subjects matched the loudness level of their own voice (the autophonic level) to that of a constant and external reference sound, under different synthesized room acoustics conditions. The matching voice levels are used to build a set of equal autophonic level curves. These curves give an indication of the amount of variation in voice level induced by the acoustic environment as a consequence of the sidetone compensation or Lombard effect. In the range of typical rooms for speech, the variations in overall voice level that result in a constant autophonic level are on the order of 2 dB, and more than 3 dB in the 4 kHz octave band. By comparison of these curves with previous studies, it is shown that talkers use acoustic cues other than loudness to adjust their voices when speaking in different rooms.     

Case-study evaluations of the acoustical designs of renovated university classrooms

The acoustical characteristics of 14 university classrooms at the University of British Columbia were measured before and after renovation—seven of these are discussed in detail here. From these measurements, and theoretical considerations, values of quantities used to assess each classroom configuration were predicted, and used to evaluate renovation quality. Information on each renovation was determined with the help of the university campus-planning office and/or the project acoustical consultant. These were related to the evaluation results in order to determine the relationship between design and acoustical quality. The criteria focused on the quality of verbal communication in the classrooms. Room-average Speech Intelligibility (SI) and its physical correlate, Speech Transmission Index (STI), were used to quantify verbal-communication quality. A simplified STI-calculation procedure was applied. The results indicate that some renovations were beneficial, others were not. Verbal-communication quality varied from ‘poor’ to ‘good’. The effect of a renovation depends on a complex interplay between changes in the reverberation and changes in the signal-to-noise level difference, as affected by sound absorption and the source outputs. Renovations which reduce noise are beneficial unless signal-to-noise level differences remain optimal. Renovations often put too much emphasis on adding sound absorption to control reverberation, at the expense of lower speech levels, particularly at the backs of classrooms. The absorption and noise contributed by room occupants has apparently often been neglected.