Speaker
Description
This study builds upon a previous investigation into the effect of source azimuth on the perceived annoyance of domestic sounds. A novel experimental testing method was employed to further evaluate the observed directional effect, in addition to assessing the influence of room acoustics and visual cues. In a virtual reality (VR) listening experiment, 33 participants were presented with several stationary sound sources situated within three room simulations, each with differing acoustic characteristics. The stimuli were presented twice, once with a visual simulation of the room and source, and once without (blackout). The participants identified the most and least annoying positions independently for each stimulus and rated their perceived level of annoyance. The results not only verified the initial findings but also revealed some additional insights. For example, the directional responses were consistent with the original study, where the majority found sources around ±90° to be the most annoying, with 180° and 0° causing the least annoyance; however, some participants found that ~0° was the most annoying position, influenced by visual and acoustic factors. The difference between average perceived annoyance responses for the most and least annoying positions was significant for all stimuli, again reinforcing the previous results; although the acoustic conditions of the room also affected annoyance levels. The results validate the methodology approach for obtaining meaningful results in annoyance and soundscape quality studies. They also offer a deeper insight into the influence of spatial features and audiovisual interaction on psychoacoustic annoyance, with potential applications in annoyance modelling and environmental design.