Have you ever struggled with understanding lecturer’s speech in a class? Yes, then what if you had hearing impairment or were studying in a language that is NOT your first language?
Acoustics of rooms such as background noise and reverberation affect our hearing detrimentally by degrading the intelligibility of speech, making it harder to understand what speakers are saying. When the listener has hearing impairment or the language of the speech is not the listener’s first language (i.e. non-native listener), the detrimental effect will be much more severe, causing inequity in accessing crucial information between listeners. This inequity is particularly serious in education sector in the modern society where students with various backgrounds are learning together.
Studies have shown that the acoustics varies not only between rooms but also between different positions in the same room. It can also be improved by installing equipment such as public address systems (microphone and loudspeakers). This Part4 project will investigate the acoustics of different learning spaces in the university and evaluate the speech intelligibility in each room/position in the rooms. The project aims to identify inequity in learning in the university and ultimately make recommendations to the university how the issue could be rectified.
Students suitable for this project would be interested in acoustics and/or various aspects of human auditory perception. At least one of the group members must have passed MECHENG370.
The supervisor is leading the Communication Acoustics Lab (CAL) at the Acoustics Research Centre. To see how this project is related to the research conducted by the CAL, visit the website from this link: http://cal.auckland.ac.nz.
Undergraduate
As this project requires fundamental knowledge in digital signal processing, at least one of the group members must have passed MECHENG370 Electronics and Signal Processing (i.e. the team must have at least one Mechatronics student).
Taking MECHENG726: Acoustics for Engineers (Part4 elective offered in S2) would help students understand the theories and techniques useful for the project (enrolment is NOT a requirement).
Acoustics Lab (City 422.154, Lab)