title: Speech intelligibility and speech quality of modified loudspeaker announcements examined in a simulated aircraft cabin.
abstract: Acoustic modifications of loudspeaker announcements were investigated in a simulated aircraft cabin to improve passengers' speech intelligibility and quality of communication in this specific setting. Four experiments with 278 participants in total were conducted in an acoustic laboratory using a standardised speech test and subjective rating scales. In experiments 1 and 2 the sound pressure level (SPL) of the announcements was varied (ranging from 70 to 85 dB(A)). Experiments 3 and 4 focused on frequency modification (octave bands) of the announcements. All studies used a background noise with the same SPL (74 dB(A)), but recorded at different seat positions in the aircraft cabin (front, rear). The results quantify speech intelligibility improvements with increasing signal-to-noise ratio and amplification of particular octave bands, especially the 2 kHz and the 4 kHz band. Thus, loudspeaker power in an aircraft cabin can be reduced by using appropriate filter settings in the loudspeaker system.
authors.affiliation: a German Aerospace Center (DLR) , Institute of Aerospace Medicine , Cologne , Germany.
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pennig
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quehl
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wittkowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000401:Aircraft / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects; D013060:Speech; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility
keywords: aircraft cabin; loudspeaker announcements; sound design; speech intelligibility