Associations between urban soundscape perception and emotional states

de Ulhoa Carvalho, Maria Luiza

Abstract

Urban soundscape design represents a research area still in development, with gaps, such as influences on human response and practical application. Research on natural soundscapes, such as urban parks has demonstrated their benefits to society, however, other soundscape types are less studied. Additionally, the presence of people has been suggested from previous work to contribute to the sense of eventfulness to a place. Given this, a variation of soundscape types and population densities using physiological experiments consist of a reasonable strategy to tackle the research. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the relationships between soundscape perception and emotional state in urban locations (park, plaza, and pedestrian street) that may indicate changes on responses to the sonic environment. Methods involved subjective self-reports and brain activity observations when exposed to real audio-visual soundscape stimuli reproduced in virtual reality (VR) via internet and laboratory experiments. Participants scores confirmed that the perception of eventfulness increased when higher number of people where in the scene. Similarly, the studied park and plaza with children playing on a sunny day were classified as a Vibrant soundscape. Electroencephalogram (EEG) responses showed increases in the Alpha Power when locations were empty. Contributions of this work are based around the concepts of identifying that population density changes perceptual and emotional responses in urban soundscapes, real site VR can be a tool to collect these subjective responses, and EEG could complement these self-reports. EEG responses to soundscapes are still rare among soundscape studies, especially since population density has demonstrated an effect on EEG alpha power readings. Thus, population density and the design of Plazas should be considered in assessing, planning, and designing urban soundscapes towards livelier sounding cities. The benefits from this kind of research impact not only alternative solutions for environmental noise issues, but also improvements in public health, quality of life, and cultural heritage.

Citation

de Ulhoa Carvalho, M. L. (2024). Associations between urban soundscape perception and emotional states. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Feb 15, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 27, 2024
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17866/vwhh-7v77
• Keywords: Urban soundscape perception; emotional states; virtual reality; population density; EEG.
• Award Date: Mar 26, 2024