How to improve speech intelligibility in class- and lecture rooms
- Autores: Mirko Cudina, Jurij Prezelj
- Localización: Proceedings of the ISRA 2007 Seville, Vol. 2, 2008 (Poster Session Communications), ISBN 9788469082676
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
Room acoustic is different for classrooms or lecture rooms and for concert or opera halls and churches. The most important parameter for class- and lecture rooms is speech intelligibility. Speech intelligibility depends on the reverberation time, speech to noise ratio, dimensions of the classroom, visibility of the speaker, position of the listeners etc. To improve speech intelligibility in an existing class- or lecture room we have to increase the signal to noise ratio or to reduce the reverberation time. For reducing reverberation time, different engineering methods are in use. Instead of the engineering methods an alternative method can be used, e.g., by hanging art paintings on the room walls. Experiments have shown that paintings can reduce reverberation time by increasing of the absorption coefficient in the most audible part of frequency spectra, between 800 and 1500 Hz. This effect can be increased by adding an absorption material behind the canvas of paintings. Art paintings can also be used for educational purposes and by proper colour combination for soothing of the undesirable background noise by changing perception in the brain.
