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All Outputs (43)

A listener-centred approach to soundscape evaluation (2012)
Presentation / Conference
Foale, K., & Davies, W. (2012, April). A listener-centred approach to soundscape evaluation. Presented at Acoustics 2012, Nantes

I am conducting a Grounded Theory study into measuring opinions of urban soundscapes. Participants are given a small portable recording device and asked to keep a sound diary for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, they are given a 60-minute in... Read More about A listener-centred approach to soundscape evaluation.

Measuring and mapping soundscape speech intelligibility (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Davies, W., Mahnken, P., Gamble, P., & Plack, C. (2009, October). Measuring and mapping soundscape speech intelligibility. Presented at Euronoise 2009, Edinburgh, U.K

More than one factor analysis of soundscape perception has concluded that speech communication is a significant contributor to the overall perceived quality of urban soundscapes. While not everything that is perceptually significant in real soundscap... Read More about Measuring and mapping soundscape speech intelligibility.

Expectation as a factor in the perception of soundscapes (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Bruce, N., Davies, W., & Adams, M. (2009, October). Expectation as a factor in the perception of soundscapes. Presented at Euronoise 2009, Edinburgh, U.K

This paper discusses how expectation and experience form a contributory factor in the perception of soundscapes. The research used fieldwork carried out in London and Manchester, and also a soundscape simulator in a laboratory. Through the use of an... Read More about Expectation as a factor in the perception of soundscapes.

A positive soundscape evaluation system (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Davies, W., Adams, M., Bruce, N., Cain, R., Jennings, P., Carlyle, A., …Plack, C. (2009, October). A positive soundscape evaluation system. Presented at Euronoise 2009, Edinburgh, U.K

Current policy on environmental sound is largely based on noise control. There is considerable interest in exploiting the soundscape concept to provide a more sophisticated way of managing our acoustic environment. For this to happen, a tool for asse... Read More about A positive soundscape evaluation system.

Development of a soundscape simulator tool (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Bruce, N., Davies, W., & Adams, M. (2009, August). Development of a soundscape simulator tool. Presented at Internoise 09, Ottawa, Canada

This paper discusses the development of an interactive soundscape simulator, enabling users to manipulate a series of parameters to investigate if there is group correlation between factors such as source selection, positioning and level. The basis... Read More about Development of a soundscape simulator tool.

Soundscapes : an urban planning process map (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Adams, M., Davies, W., & Bruce, N. (2009, August). Soundscapes : an urban planning process map. Presented at Internoise 2009, Ottawa, Canada

The concept of soundscapes is an established theme in acoustics research, most notably in the areas of environmental noise, noise control and psychoacoustics. However, many disciplines outside of traditional acoustics have recently worked toget... Read More about Soundscapes : an urban planning process map.

The positive soundscape project : a synthesis of results from many disciplines (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Davies, W., Adams, M., Bruce, N., Marselle, M., Cain, R., Jennings, P., …Plack, C. (2009, August). The positive soundscape project : a synthesis of results from many disciplines. Presented at Internoise 2009, Ottawa, Canada

This paper takes an overall view of ongoing findings from the Positive Soundscape Project, a large inter-disciplinary soundscapes study which is nearing completion. Qualitative fieldwork (soundwalks and focus groups) and lab-based listening tests hav... Read More about The positive soundscape project : a synthesis of results from many disciplines.

Speech communication in outdoor soundscapes (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Davies, W., Mahnken, P., & Plack, C. (2009, March). Speech communication in outdoor soundscapes. Presented at NAG/DAGA 2009 International Conference on Acoustics, Rotterdam

The Positive Soundscape Project is a large multi-disciplinary project investigating the perception of soundscapes. Recent findings indicate that speech communication is a principal factor in users’ perceptions of urban soundscapes. The project ha... Read More about Speech communication in outdoor soundscapes.

Physiological responses and subjective estimates of sounds : initial results of pilot study (2008)
Presentation / Conference
Hume, K., Barrett, H., Ip, A., McDonagh, T., Davies, W., Adams, M., …Plack, C. (2008, April). Physiological responses and subjective estimates of sounds : initial results of pilot study. Presented at Institute of Acoustics Spring Conference 2008, Reading, UK

In an attempt to understand the effect of sounds on physiological measurements, along the positive (pleasant) - negative (unpleasant) subjective dimension, 51 subjects (26 male) listened to 13 sounds in clips of 8s interspersed with 16s of silence wh... Read More about Physiological responses and subjective estimates of sounds : initial results of pilot study.

Soundwalking as a methodology for understanding soundscapes (2008)
Presentation / Conference
Adams, M., Bruce, N., Davies, W., Cain, R., Jennings, P., Carlyle, A., …Plack, C. (2008, April). Soundwalking as a methodology for understanding soundscapes. Presented at Institute of Acoustics Spring Conference 2008, Reading, U.K

Soundwalking is a practice that was devised by R. Murray Schafer, when he established the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is an empirical method for identifying a soundscape and compo... Read More about Soundwalking as a methodology for understanding soundscapes.

The positive soundscape project (2007)
Presentation / Conference
Davies, W., Adams, M., Bruce, N., Cain, R., Carlyle, A., Cusack, P., …Plack, C. (2007, September). The positive soundscape project. Presented at 19th International Congress on Acoustics, Madrid

The Positive Soundscape Project is a multi-disciplinary investigation of soundscape perception which started in October 2006. This paper communicates the aims and design of the project and discusses some early results. The project seeks to develop a... Read More about The positive soundscape project.

From concert halls to noise barriers : attenuation from interference gratings (2002)
Presentation / Conference
Davies, W. (2002, March). From concert halls to noise barriers : attenuation from interference gratings. Presented at Acoustics 2002, Salford, Greater Manchester

The seat dip effect is a low-frequency attenuation affecting sound travelling at grazing incidence over seating in auditoria. It is caused by scattered sound from the seats interfering with sound travelling directly from the source on the stage. In o... Read More about From concert halls to noise barriers : attenuation from interference gratings.

Influence of diffuse reflections on the playing of musicians (2001)
Presentation / Conference
Bermond, R., & Davies, W. (2001, September). Influence of diffuse reflections on the playing of musicians. Presented at 17th Int. Congress on Acoustics, Rome

To date, there has been little evidence available on how musicians perceive diffuse reflections in the early sound field in comparison to specular reflections. Two series of subjective tests were conducted among musicians, one in a small room and one... Read More about Influence of diffuse reflections on the playing of musicians.

Difference Limen for level of music (2001)
Presentation / Conference
Davies, W. (2001, September). Difference Limen for level of music. Presented at 17th International Congress on Acoustics, Rome

A psychoacoustic experiment has been conducted to determine the difference limen (DL) of the level of music reproduced in a listening room. The effects of three factors on the DL were measured using up to twelve trained subjects. The factors were m... Read More about Difference Limen for level of music.

Development and preliminary results of the University of Salford media Accessibility and hearing Impairment Database (U-SAID)
Presentation / Conference
Ward, L., Shirley, B., & Davies, W. Development and preliminary results of the University of Salford media Accessibility and hearing Impairment Database (U-SAID). Presented at Reproduced Sound 2018 : putting sound in its place, Bristol, UK

Recent technological advances in object-based broadcasting present the opportunity to improve broadcast accessibility, particularly for the 11 million people in the UK with hearing impairment. Taking advantage of this opportunity is important given t... Read More about Development and preliminary results of the University of Salford media Accessibility and hearing Impairment Database (U-SAID).

Continuous evaluative and pupil dilation response to soundscapes
Presentation / Conference
Graetzer, S., Landowska, A., Harris, L., Cox, T., & Davies, W. Continuous evaluative and pupil dilation response to soundscapes. Presented at e-Forum Acusticum 2020, Online

We investigated human response to soundscapes using a continuous second-by-second rating of soundscapes and a more conventional overall rating of each sample at the end of each audition. In this work, our primary aim was to explore what continuous ra... Read More about Continuous evaluative and pupil dilation response to soundscapes.

Difference limen for reverberation time in auditoria
Presentation / Conference
Tsolias, A., & Davies, W. Difference limen for reverberation time in auditoria. Presented at Forum Acusticum, Krakow, Poland

The smallest change in reverberation time that can be perceived in a concert hall has been measured. Five existing halls with average reverberation times varying between 0.89 and 2.3 s were simulated in detail with Bose room acoustic modelling softwa... Read More about Difference limen for reverberation time in auditoria.

An activity-centric conceptual framework for assessing and creating positive urban soundscapes
Presentation / Conference
Cain, R., Jennings, P., Adams, M., Bruce, N., Davies, W., Carlyle, A., …Plack, C. An activity-centric conceptual framework for assessing and creating positive urban soundscapes. Presented at Spring Conference of the Institute of Acoustics 2008 : Widening Horizons in Acoustics, Reading, UK

The Positive Soundscapes Project is an interdisciplinary investigation of soundscape perception [1]. The project seeks to develop a rounded view of human perception of soundscapes by drawing together methods from the disciplines of engineering s... Read More about An activity-centric conceptual framework for assessing and creating positive urban soundscapes.