title: A computational model of auditory attention for use in soundscape research.
abstract: Urban soundscape design involves creating outdoor spaces that are pleasing to the ear. One way to achieve this goal is to add or accentuate sounds that are considered to be desired by most users of the space, such that the desired sounds mask undesired sounds, or at least distract attention away from undesired sounds. In view of removing the need for a listening panel to assess the effectiveness of such soundscape measures, the interest for new models and techniques is growing. In this paper, a model of auditory attention to environmental sound is presented, which balances computational complexity and biological plausibility. Once the model is trained for a particular location, it classifies the sounds that are present in the soundscape and simulates how a typical listener would switch attention over time between different sounds. The model provides an acoustic summary, giving the soundscape designer a quick overview of the typical sounds at a particular location, and allows assessment of the perceptual effect of introducing additional sounds.
authors.affiliation: Acoustics Research Group, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, St.-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Damiano
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oldoni
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Coensel
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boes
authors.forename: Michaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rademaker
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Baets
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van Renterghem
authors.forename: Dick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Botteldooren
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002958:City Planning; D006801:Humans; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009622:Noise; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D012106:Research; D014505:Urban Population