Soundscape, privacy, communication, and orientation

Soundscape, privacy, communication, and orientation

De Ruiter, E.P.J.

2005-10-14

Workshop 3. Session 3.1: Privacy and public life Abstract: The auditive element is often neglected, in descriptions of environments. If sound is addressed at all, only the aspect of noisiness is considered. “Soundscapes” can offer a different view. This notion is used in several ways, many of them too limited in scope. Also because a large amount of information is available on the “behaviour” of sound and speech communication, these acoustical aspects make a good starting point for an objective description of residential environments. They could be included in the notion of soundscapes. Making a philosophy work requires tools, which means: tools are necessary to put ideas for a better environment into practice. A first step towards a more objective description of soundscapes is the notion of ”signal to noise ratio”, which can indicate whether a specific sound can be heard in a certain ambient noise. This is the base for understanding communication, privacy and masking. Further it is noted that human speech is a very important sound source, sometimes appreciated (social communication), sometimes not (intruding noise). A holistic approach of soundscapes should be developed including annoyance, auditive privacy and communication as well. Many of the elements required for this approach exist, but have not yet been taken into this new field. For example, it is necessary to determine in each case what is foreground sound (“signal”, speech) and what is background noise, and to treat them separately; the combination of both determines the rate of communication, ranging from perfect privacy to perfect communication. Calculation models from acoustic science are available for speech privacy and speech communication. Similar models can be developed, to compare different urban plans and create a base of guide lines for soundscapes in urban and architectural design.

soundscapes, noise annoyance, speech communication, speech privacy, orientation, urbanism

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(c) 2005 De Ruiter, E.P.J.