Scuola di Dottorato in Discipline dellArchitettura Dottorato di Ricerca in Rappresentazione, Tutela e Sicurezza dellAmbiente e delle Strutture XXIV Ciclo

Sekin Batrk THE USE OF MULTISENSORY EVALUATION TECHNIQUES IN SPATIAL DECISION MAKING
SETTORE SCIENTIFICO-DISCIPLINARE ING-IND/11
21 Novembre 2011

COORDINATORE prof. arch. Carmine Gambardella

TUTOR prof. ing. Luigi Maffei

CANDIDATO arch. Seckin Basturk

ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to demonstrate the necessity and the benefits of the multisensory evaluation techniques. An innovative approach to assessment of environments by multisensory evaluation, involving the end users during the design process and administration is proposed. The multisensory stimulation phenomenon is studied with special emphasis on auditory perception. The presented assessment methodology has been refined with the feedback of various successive case studies with its implementation. The whole study consists of two parts concerning the design of the new approach for assessment of environments and its application on case studies that defines the potentiality of it. The presented assessment methodology is an innovative approach that considers objective psychological measures as well as subjective measures in perception and interpretation of the environments. In order to assess psychological reactions of the end users, an immersive virtual reality system that must be stimulating the end users feelings and emotions, proposed to be employed. With the recent developments in IVR hardware and software it is much easier to come up to a realistic representation of environments that lets an ecological assessment of environments that takes into account the multisensory and interdependent nature of human perception. In this context the core of the thesis deals with the procedures on testing psychological reactions in laboratory conditions and on the techniques to achieve plausible depiction of environments. The evaluation of potentiality of the innovative assessment method is carried out applying the mentioned method on case studies. The case study applications consider different scales and characteristics of sonic environments. Consequently the feedback is obtained to refine the proposed assessment method and to define necessities for different degrees of multisensory input and context.

Keywords: psychological measures, virtual reality, ecological assessment, environmental noise assessment, multisensory perception, soundscape, auralization

THE USE OF MULTISENSORY EVALUATION TECHNIQUES IN SPATIAL DECISION MAKING

SOMMARIO Lo scopo della presente ricerca dimostrare le potenzialit ed i benefici dell'applicazione di tecniche di Virtual Reality nella progettazione e riqualificazione degli spazi urbani ed extraurbani. Questo approccio innovativo comporta un pi ampio coinvolgimento degli utenti finali, chiamati a collaborare con le amministrazioni gi in fase progettuale. Viene di seguito presentata una metodologia di valutazione multisensoriale messa a punto e verificata attraverso l'applicazione a diversi casi studio in ambito urbano (spazi aperti e chiusi) ed extra urbano nel complesso. La ricerca consta di due parti riguardanti la messa a punto del nuovo approccio per la valutazione complessiva dell'ambiente e la verifica delle potenzialit attraverso l'applicazione a casi studio. Tale metodologia di valutazione basata su misure psicologiche sia oggettive che soggettive della percezione ed interpretazione degli ambienti. Allo scopo di valutare le reazioni psicologiche degli utenti, stato proposto un sistema di Realt Virtuale Immersiva capace di stimolare le emozioni dei soggetti, sottoposti a diversi stimoli sensoriali con maggior enfasi a quello uditivo. Grazie ai recenti sviluppi nella tecnologia della realt virtuale (hardware e software) molto pi facile ottenere una rappresentazione realistica degli ambienti e delle loro componenti che ne consenta una valutazione complessiva che tenga conto della natura multisensoriale ed interdipendente della percezione umana. Pertanto il presente lavoro dedica un ampio spazio alle procedure per la valutazione delle reazioni psicologiche soggettive in laboratorio e le tecniche per realizzare ambienti sonori il pi possibile realistici.

Parole chiave: misure psicologiche, realt virtuale, valutazione ambientale, valutazione del rumore ambientale, percezione multisensoriale, paesaggio sonoro, ruralizzazione.

THE USE OF MULTISENSORY EVALUATION TECHNIQUES IN SPATIAL DECISION MAKING

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract Table of Contents List of Publications 1. Introduction 1.1. Aims of the Thesis 1.2. Outline of the Thesis 2. Review of the Literature 2.1. Environmental Psychology and Perception 2.1.1. Multisensory Perception 2.1.2. Auditory Perception and Audiovisual Interactions 2.1.3. Influence of Mood and Noise Sensitivity on Sound Perception 2.2. Virtual Reality Environments 2.2.1. Multisensory Stimulation with Immersive VR 2.2.2. Auditory Representation and Auralization 2.3. Recent Multisensory Assessment Techniques in Sound Related Studies 2.3.1. Environmental Noise Studies 2.3.2. Soundscape and Sound Quality Studies 3. The Design of Multisensory Assessment Method 3.1. Virtual Environment Design 3.1.1. Audio Stimuli Design for VR Application 3.1.2. Visual Stimuli Design for VR Application 3.2. Virtual Reality Immersion 3.2.1. VR Software 3.2.2. VR Hardware 3.3. Psychological Assessment Process Design 3.3.1. Assessment Measures 3.3.2. Assessment Procedure 3.3.3. Data Analyses

1 3 5 7 10 11 12 12 14 16 19 22 25 27 30 30 34 37 37 37 43 46 46 49 53 54 65 66

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4.

Application of Multisensory Assessment Method on Case Studies 4.1. Environmental Noise Studies 4.1.1. Road Traffic Noise Assessment 4.1.2. Wind Turbine Noise Assessment 4.2. Urban Soundscape Studies 4.2.1. Urban Renewal Projects Assessment 4.2.2. Public Participation Support in Urban Administration Processes 4.3. Room Acoustics Studies 4.3.1. Adaptive Reuse Projects Assessment 4.3.2. Acoustical Improvement Projects Assessment 4.4. Discussion and Future Directions

68 68 68 73 82 82 83 86 86 90 94 96 98

5. 6.

Conclusions Bibliography

THE USE OF MULTISENSORY EVALUATION TECHNIQUES IN SPATIAL DECISION MAKING

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS This thesis summarizes the following articles and publications, referred to as P1P14: P1_ S. BASTURK, L. MAFFEI, F. PEREA PREZ, , . RANEA PALMA, Multisensory evaluation to support urban decision making, in International Seminar on Virtual Acoustics ISVA 2011, Valencia, Spain, November 2011. P2_ L. MAFFEI, M. MASULLO, S. BASTURK, Potentialities of the immersive virtual reality in environmental noise annoyance studies, in TecniAcustica 2011, Cceres, Spain, October 2011. P3_ S. BASTURK, . RANEA PALMA, F. PEREA PREZ, L. MAFFEI, Anlisis multisensorial de la contaminacin acstica en espacios urbanos, in TecniAcustica 2011, Cceres, Spain, October 2011. P4_ L. MAFFEI, N. ALEXEEVA, M. DI GABRIELE, M. MASULLO, S. BASTURK, F. ALETTA, Experiences on acoustic impact assessment by means of immersive virtual reality, in ELPIT 2011, Togliatti, Russia, September 2011. P5_ L. MAFFEI, T. IACHINI, S. BASTURK, M. DI GABRIELE, V.P. SENESE, Soundscape approach for the impact assessment of wind farms, in Inter-Noise 2011, Osaka, Japan, September 2011. P6_ L. MAFFEI, M. DI GABRIELE, S. BASTURK, Multisensorial approach for the functional conversion of monumental spaces in auditoria, in IX International Forum Le Vie dei Mercanti, Capri/Naples, Italy, 9 - 11 June 2011. P7_ M. DI GABRIELE, L. MAFFEI, S. BASTURK, M. MASULLO, Le tecniche di multisensorial virtual reality a supporto delle valutazioni di impatto acustico, in 38th AIA National Congress, Rimini, Italy, 8-10 June 2011. P8_ L. MAFFEI, S. BASTURK, F. ALETTA, Valutazione di interventi di riqualificazione acustica di ambienti scolastici mediante lapplicazione
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delle tecniche della realt virtuale, in 38th AIA National Congress, Rimini, Italy, 8-10 June 2011. P9_ M. MASULLO, G. IANNACE, S. BASTURK, L. MAFFEI, V.P. SENESE, F. RUOTOLO, The influence of vision on noise annoyance evaluation of wind farms, in Fourth International Meeting on Wind Turbine Noise, Rome, Italy, 12-14 April 2011. P10_ S. BASTURK, R. CARAFA, L. MAFFEI, The Validation of Architectural and Acoustic Projects to Transform Ecclesiastical Architecture in Auditoria for Concert Music, in 1st EAA-EuroRegio 2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 2010. P11_ F. RUOTOLO, S. IACHINI, L. MAFFEI, S. BASTURK, M. DI GABRIELE, Subjective and objective psychological measures of environmental noise assessment, in 1st EAA-EuroRegio 2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 2010. P12_ F. PEREA PREZ, S. BASTURK, M. MASULLO, R. HERNANDEZ, A Tool for Environmental Auralization of Stationary Sound Sources, in 1st EAAEuroRegio 2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 2010. P13_ L. MAFFEI, M. MASULLO, S. BASTURK, New Tools for the Noise Annoyance Assessment of Projects, in 2nd UNTREF International Congress on Acoustics, Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 2010. P14_ L. MAFFEI, S. IACHINI, M. DI GABRIELE, S. BASTURK, G. RUGGERO, New Audio-Visual Approach For Environmental Noise Assessment, in InterNoise 2010, pp. 252, Lisbon, Portugal, July 2010.

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1.

INTRODUCTION As space and spatial issues became the new paradigm of architectural theory at the end of the twentieth century, all disciplines are getting more involved with space, architecture or engineering has no more right to it than any other. Space which is conceptual as well as physical, an embodiment of social relations and ideology, holds the person within. And spatial studies, within and in-between different disciplines, focus on relationships between people and their environments in order to promote spaces in line with the nature of these relationships. In recent decades the full spectrum of human experiences is being considered a wide variety of fields; the design of consumer goods, marketing and the design of private and virtual spaces amongst others. The reason for this interest is demonstrated in several recent studies which reveal the significant impact that spatial cues have on individuals behavior and can be consequently employed to increase retail performance, inform successful spatial designs and improve quality of life. Especially the places which are subject to purchase of goods and services are increasingly being conceived with their sensual characteristics. And multisensory design is getting much more important to enhance interaction and to intensify the sensorial experiences of people, related to the goods, services, spaces. Colors, lights, tactile properties of materials, temperature, humidity, odors, and sounds are increasingly considered with their physical properties, semantics and the way that they are perceived. Notwithstanding, still, sensory qualities are not considered enough in urban spaces. As Mirko Zardini has pointed out, sanitization and standardization are still very dominant movements for urban and environment related issues (Zardini, Schivelbusch, and Centre canadien darchitecture 2005). As sanitization and standardization deal with basic needs of a generic person, the sensory qualities are being thought of as just physical quantities that are subject to control and elimination. This approach, not being contextaware, excludes differences and interactions between people, communities, cultures, life styles, expectations and senses, likewise the conventional sound related studies. Environmental sounds are traditionally assumed as waste to reduce or eliminate. This assent has raised sanitization and standardization in this field. The sanitization is accepted to be the objective of noise control engineering and standardization is used as a tool to develop dose-response relationships.
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Large social surveys carried out to investigate these relationships, in this way the peoples subjective response to the noise could be predicted as a function of certain physical characteristics of environmental noise (Schultz 1978). Data from social surveys, concerning different types of transportation noise, led to development of a set of dose response curves. These doseresponse curves are widely accepted by experts and took place in national and international legislative efforts. In European Union, the results of these studies provide the basis of the European Noise Directive 2002/49/EC (European Parliament, Council 2002) in which noise indicators Lden (day-evening-night equivalent level) and Lnight (night equivalent level) were introduced. These indicators which are derived from energetic levels of noise are supposed to be used to understand, respectively, noise annoyance and sleep disturbance. The noise annoyance is widely accepted to be the most important and best estimate of the overall effect of environmental noise pollution as well as the sleep disturbance (Miedema and Vos 1998) (Miedema and Oudshoorn 2001). Furthermore, dose-effect relations were introduced in order to guide assessing annoyance using the Lden and assessing sleep disturbance using Lnight metrics (European Commission, WG2 Dose/Effect 2002) (European Commission, WG-Health and Socio-Economic Aspects 2004). With these legislative and guiding efforts it is intended to estimate long-term and largescale effects of environmental noise on population and implement noise control measures where it is needed. Nevertheless, noise annoyance is a multi-faceted concept where the psychosocial factors play role as well as the noise level (Maffei, Masullo, and Basturk 2010). A statistically generalized noise indicator can mislead the noise impact assessment when it is applied to different contexts, like different cultures, life styles, expectations of population, etc. (Maris 2008). A few recent studies shown the evidence that at different scales and contexts the dose-effect curves and public reaction can vary therefore applying generalized measures may cause impotent noise control actions (Lercher and Botteldooren 2006)(Maffei et al. 2010). Also recent studies have shown that the annoyance from aircraft noise has changed over past years (Guski 2004)(Brink et al. 2008) which lead up to questioning the stability of these generalized approaches over time. When examined it can be easily seen that these variations are strongly related to how individuals perceive their surroundings. Throughout our daily
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life environmental stimuli are continuously being sensed, sensations recall our memories and previous experiences, and in turn trigger processing that leads to the identification and recognition of our surrounding environment. This process informs an individuals response which occurs as a function of the context in which the environmental stimuli are sensed. In other words, we perceive noise not just with our auditory system but with interplay of all our senses to constitute a unique overall perception (Meredith 2002). There are recent studies showing the evidence that there is a significant cooperation between sensory modalities evaluating noise exposure (Fastl 2004)(Guilln and Lpez Barrio 2007)(Haverkamp 2007). Public information and consultancy is one of the most important underlying principles of environmental policy of European Union. On this basis the necessity to ensure public information and get public consultancy in the beginning stages of the decision-making are mentioned in noise related regulations, but no definition of the population involvement process were specified. Noise maps and numerical data seem to be the tools pointed by the legislation for the public information. However explaining noise which is a conceptual phenomenon, with numerical noise data makes it less comprehensible by general public. In order to overcome these issues in noise impact assessment process, recently, several researchers worked on new methods employing high end technology in laboratory conditions and focused on new user friendly interfaces to present noise information and assessment of their reactions to it. Conducting new extensive social surveys can give more realistic results because they take place in real life settings. However they are expensive, time-consuming and not applicable to assess future scenarios (new projects). On the other hand laboratory experiments are relatively cheap, with a specific aim they enable fast results and they are applicable to assess future scenarios. The laboratory settings can be prepared in two ways; preparing a physical stage that represents real life which can be named as simulator, or preparing a virtual stage (virtual environment) in order to display the scenario through a computer interface. These laboratory tests should stimulate the listeners feelings and emotions (such as pleasantness, excitement, contentment) in order to have realistic reactions to the sonic simulated environment. In other words by these methods the sound and the complex environment are experienced together (Otto et al. 1999).
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Simulators usually offer more realistic experiments but they are expensive and generally suitable to represent indoor conditions like living room or a vehicle cabin (De Coensel et al. 2007)(Genuit and Bray 2001). On the other hand, virtual stages are relatively cheap and fully customizable for any kind of experimental need. There are several efforts in order to enhance conventional laboratory listening tests and achieve a satisfactory virtual stage (Hynninen 2001)(01dB-Metravib 2011)(Brel & Kjr Sound & Vibration Measurement A/S 2011)(HEAD acoustics GmbH 2011), however they offer limited interaction with environment and usually limited immersion with only a static representation (images/photos) of the environment. Besides, highend immersive virtual reality (IVR) systems offer satisfactory realism through high quality display and high level of interaction. The potentiality of various types of virtual reality systems in acoustics related studies is under study. Virtual reality systems can be utilized for dissemination of the results of noise maps (McDonald, Rice, and Dobbyn 2009), soundscape design and urban planning (Brambilla et al. 2009)(Fiebig and Genuit 2009)(Drettakis et al. 2007)(Jallouli, Moreau, and Querrec 2008)(Curcuruto et al. 2010).

1.1. Aims of the Thesis The aim of this thesis is to describe the design of an innovative multisensory (acoustic and visual) assessment system and demonstrate the necessity and the benefits of the multisensory evaluation techniques through case studies. The realized system involves the end users during the design process and administration of spatial issues in order to assess the perceived qualities of the space.

Figure 1.1: Research areas and problems involved in this thesis study.

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The multisensory stimulation phenomenon is studied with special emphasis on auditory perception and audio-video stimuli design, virtual reality reproduction and the psychological assessment procedure design constitute the proposed multisensory assessment system.

1.2. Outline of the Thesis This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the research and literature related to environmental perception, approaches in sound related studies and virtual reality systems. In Chapter 3, the implemented multisensory assessment system is presented and details of the stimulus design, virtual reality instrumentation and psychological assessment procedure are explained. Chapter 4 presents the implementation of the proposed multisensory assessment method to case studies. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes the thesis.

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