Annoyance-type speech emotion detection in working environment

In order to recognize people＇s annoyance emotions in the working environment and evaluate emotional well- being, emotional speech in a work environment is induced to obtain adequate samples of emotional speech, and a Mandarin database with two thousands samples is built. In searching for annoyance-type emotion features, the prosodic feature and the voice quality feature parameters of the emotional statements are extracted first. Then an improved back propagation （BP） neural network based on the shuffled frog leaping algorithm （SFLA） is proposed to recognize the emotion. The recognition capability of the BP, radical basis function （RBF） and the SFLA neural networks are compared experimentally. The results show that the recognition ratio of the SFLA neural network is 4. 7% better than that of the BP neural network and 4. 3% better than that of the RBF neural network. The experimental results demonstrate that the random initial data trained by the SFLA can optimize the connection weights and thresholds of the neural network, speed up the convergence and improve the recognition rate.

Annoyance Rate Evaluation Method on Ride Comfort of Vehicle Suspension System

The existing researches of the evaluation method of ride comfort of vehicle mainly focus on the level of human feelings to vibration. The level of human feelings to vibration is influenced by many factors, however, the ride comfort according to the common principle of probability and statistics and simple binary logic is tmable to reflect these uncertainties. The random fuzzy evaluation model from people subjective response to vibration is adopted in the paper, these uncertainties are analyzed from the angle of psychological physics. Discussing the traditional evaluation of ride comfort during vehicle vibration, a fuzzily random evaluation model on the basis of annoyance rate is proposed for the human body＇s subjective response to vibration, with relevant fuzzy membership function and probability distribution given. A half-car four degrees of freedom suspension vibration model is described, subject to irregular excitations from the road surface, with the aid of software Matlab/Simulink. A new kind of evaluation method for ride comfort of vehicles is proposed in the paper, i.e., the annoyance rate evaluation method. The genetic algorithm and neural network control theory are used to control the system. Simulation results are obtained, such as the comparison of comfort reaction to vibration environments between before and after control, relationship of annoyance rate to vibration frequency and weighted acceleration, based on ISO 2631 / 1 （1982）, ISO 2631-1 （1997） and annoyance rate evaluation method, respectively. Simulated assessment results indicate that the proposed active suspension systems prove to be effective in the vibration isolation of the suspension system, and the subjective response of human being can be promoted from very uncomfortable to a little uncomfortable. Furthermore, the novel evaluation method based on annoyance rate can further estimate quantitatively the number of passengers who feel discomfort due to vibration. A new analysis method of vehicle comfort is presented.

Subjective annoyance caused by indoor low-level and low frequency noise and control method

The influence of low_level noise has not been widely noticed. This paper discovered that low_level and low frequency noise(A_weighted equivalent level L eq <45 dB) causes higher probability of subjective annoyance. The fuzzy mathematic principle was applied to deal with the threshold level of subjective annoyance from noise in this study; there is preferable relationship between the indoor noise and noise annoyance at low frequency noise level. Study indicated at the same centered noise level, the change of annoyance probability is mainly caused by the change of the frequency spectrum characteristic of the indoor noise. Under low noise level environment, without change of the medium_low frequency noise, the slight increase of medium_high frequency noise level with the help of noise sheltering effect can significantly reduce the noise annoyance. This discovery brings a new resolution on how to improve the environmental quality of working or living places. A noise control model is given in this study according to the acoustic analysis.

Assessment of Traffic Noise Pollution in Burla Town,India;An InclusiveAnnoyance Study

Noise pollution is one of the major public health problems in urban areas throughout the world.Noise is unwanted sound which produces undesirable problems in day to day life of human being(e.g.,physiological and psychological problems).Rapid increase of the industrialization,urbanization,infrastructure,volume of motor vehicles,and increase in the road networks brought noise pollution to the highest level of disaster in a current situation.In urban areas,road traffic noise plays commanding role among all noise sources and affects the exposed inhabitants.The present work is done to evaluate and assess the traffic noise and its effects in Burla town.Burla,Vidyanagari of Odisha,is an emerging town in India,as it hosts national level of teaching and research institutions like IIM Sambalpur,a medical college-cum-hospital(VIMSAR),a technical university(VSSUT)and Sambalpur University.In last two decade,the road traffic volume has been increased and is facing severe noise pollution to its inhabitants.Noise pollution assessment was made at different locations of the town.This study unveiled the dismal state of noise pollution in the town.Noise contour maps were drawn to visualize the noise level at the traffic and its surroundings.The numbers of hearing impaired patients in different hospitals of the locality are increasing.That shows grim picture of the situation.Regression equations were established taking noise levels with percentage of highly annoyed people during study indicates strong correlation.

A Study of Noise &Development of Traffic Noise Annoyance Models

Although noise annoyance is a major public health problem in urban areas, noise problem is still a great challenge for both public and transportation planners. The quantitative study of traffic noise and its relationship with annoyance & traffic volume was discussed in the paper and at the same time we tried to develop new statistical regression models to relate them. In the present study we also tried to fit different regression models such as Log-Linear, Linear, Log-Log Linear and Quadratic over noise data and decided which model fitted the best by using mathematics of principle of maxima & minima. After the identification of best fit curve we use this to fit our data. The aim of the study was to assess the predictive value of various factors on noise annoyance in noisy and quiet urban streets of New Delhi, capital of India.

Effects of Noise Sensitivity, Noise Exposure, and Affluent Status on Aircraft Noise Annoyance

Subjective discomfort of airport community is often assessed as reported noise annoyance in relation to noise exposure level and noise sensitivity. In addition, it has been mentioned that higher affluent people appear to have higher contention to aircraft noise, but there is little literature explicitly supporting that. This paper investigates the relationships among aircraft noise exposure level, noise sensitivity, affluence status, aircraft noise annoyance, and annoyance by other noise sources (e.g., road traffic and neighbor noise). A structural equation model is developed and estimated using data collected from residents, aged between 18 and 77 years old, living near Manila airport in the Philippines (N = 321). Results show that noise sensitivity, noise exposure level, and affluent status have positive effects on aircraft noise annoyance, suggesting that higher affluent people are substantially more annoyed by the aircraft noise than lower affluent people. The results also indicate that the annoyance by other noise sources is significantly influenced by noise sensitivity (p < 0.01), but not by the affluent status. This implies that people with higher affluent status consider more about the noise generated from aircraft than the noise from other sources. Following an airport development plan, the aviation authorities should also consider the affluent status of nearby communities in order to formulate a better aircraft noise management near that airport.

Noise Annoyance Due to Wind Flow Interaction with a Building’s Facade

The analysis of acoustic emissions generated by the interaction between the wind and a building’s facade of approximately 90 m high, located in the city of Montevideo, is presented. There is a helipad on the roof of the building. It is surrounded by a perforated plate (4.87 m high). Once the building was finished, complaints about the noise annoyance were expressed by some neighbors and working population in the building. Measurements of sound pressure levels on the site have been done. Also the possible acoustic sources were physically characterized. The noise source was identified: the acoustical emissions were associated with a phenomenon caused by wind speeds above 20 m/s from different directions, generating high sounds pressure levels in octave band of 4000 Hz, after its passage through the perforated plate on the contour of the roof. These studies were complemented by measurements in wind tunnel using a physical model built with the same plate installed in the building, which allowed verifying the results.

Annoyance and Health-Related Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study Involving Two Noise Sources

Noise remains a potent degrader of health in many global contexts, capable of inducing severe annoyance and sleep disturbance. An epidemiological study was undertaken to compare noise annoyance and health-related quality of life of individuals residing close to a major international airport or wind turbine complex with those located in demographically matched areas. Results indicate that domains of health-related quality of life may be degraded in those living in areas more likely to induce noise annoyance. Furthermore, the addition of aviation noise to environments already encroached by road noise may induce further annoyance and degradations in health-related quality of life, indicating that one noise sources may not mask the impact of another.

Assessing the inter-annual variability of separation distances around odour sources to protect the residents from odour annoyance

In recent years, there has been a growing concern about potential impacts on public health and wellbeing due to exposure to environmental odour. Separation distances between odour-emitting sources and residential areas can be calculated using dispersion models, as a means of protecting the neighbourhood from odour annoyance. This study investigates the suitability of using one single year of meteorological input data to calculate reliable direction-dependent separation distances. Accordingly, we assessed and quantified the inter-annual variability of separation distances at two sites with different meteorological conditions, one in Brazil and the other in Austria. A 5-year dataset of hourly meteorological observations was used for each site. Two odour impact criteria set in current regulations were selected to explore their effect on the separation distances. The coefficient of variation was used as a statistical measure to characterise the amount of annual variation. Overall,for all scenarios, the separation distances had a low degree of inter-annual variability(mean coefficient of variation values from 8% to 21%). Reasonable agreements from year to year were therefore observed at the two sites under investigation, showing that one year of meteorological data is a good compromise to achieve reliable accuracy. This finding can provide a more cost-effective solution to calculate separation distances in the vicinity of odour sources.

ANNOYANCE AND SPEECH INTERFERENCE OF IMPULSE AND TRAFFIC NOISE

By using the modernly developed techniques of possibility and set-valued statistics, this paper determined the thresholds of various categories of noise annoyance and defined the dose-response relation between the levels of noise and their annoyance. Three factors controlled in the experiment were types of noise: impulse and traffic; level of noise: 5Leq from 45 - 85 dB (A); and performance task: with and without speech recognition. Noise interference with speech recognition was measured with the SDT method. Our ex-perimental results showed that Leq of impulse noise should be higher than that of traffic noise to get equal annoyance; the speech recognition task might lighten the experience of annoyance; the higher the level of noise, the more its interference with the speech recognition, that is. the less the value of d '.

Statistical Evaluation and Regression Analysis of Vehicle Sound Quality

A statistical approach to evaluate the subjective perception of the annoyance caused by the vehicle noise was presented in this paper. After recording the noises of Sanfeng, Huali and Xiali at speeds of 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 km/h respectively, the annoyance of the vehicle noises was evaluated in the testing room using paired comparison method, and the sound quality metrics and subjective annoyance were then distilled. Loudness, sharpness, roughness, periodicity and impulsiveness were selected for each of the vehicle noises. By correlation analysis method, it can be found that loudness has a higher correlation （0.91） with annoyance than other parameters. Meanwhile, sharpness, periodicity, roughness and impulsiveness have correlation with subjective perception with correlation coefficients being 0.84, -0.82, 0.62 and 0.87, respectively. The result of multiple regression analysis shows that calculated annoyance obtained by the regression equation can explain the perceptual annoyance and the regressed evaluation model is feasible to evaluate the sound quality of vehicle.

Sound Quality Prediction of Vehicle Interior Noise under Multiple Working Conditions Using Back-Propagation Neural Network Model

This paper presents a back-propagation neural network model for sound quality prediction (BPNN-SQP) of multiple working conditions’ vehicle interior noise. According to the standards and regulations, four kinds of vehicle interior noises under operating conditions, including idle, constant speed, accelerating and braking, are acquired. The objective psychoacoustic parameters and subjective annoyance results are respectively used as the input and output of the BPNN-SQP model. With correlation analysis and significance test, some psychoacoustic parameters, such as loudness, A-weighted sound pressure level, roughness, articulation index and sharpness, are selected for modeling. The annoyance values of unknown noise samples estimated by the BPNN-SQP model are highly correlated with the subjective annoyances. Conclusion can be drawn that the proposed BPNN-SQP model has good generalization ability and can be applied in sound quality prediction of vehicle interior noise under multiple working conditions.

Acceptable noise level as a deciding factor for prescribing hearing aids for older adults with cochlear hearing loss-A scoping review

Older adults often find it difficult to perceive speech, especially in noisy conditions. Though hearing aid is one of the rehabilitative devices available to older adults to alleviate hearing loss, some of them may experience annoyance through hearing aid and hence reject it, may be due to circuitry noise and/or background noise. Acceptable noise level is a direct behavioural measure to estimate the extent of how much a person is able to put up with noise while simultaneously listening to speech. Acceptable noise level is a central auditory measure and it is not influenced by age, gender, presentation level or speaker. Using this measure, we can quantify the annoyance level experienced by an individual. This in-formation is of utmost importance and caution should be paid before setting the parameters in hearing aid, especially for those who are unable to accept noise. In this review article, an attempt has been made to document how to optimize the hearing aid program by setting parameters such as noise reduction circuit, microphone sensitivity and gain. These adjustments of parameters might help to reduce rejection rate of hearing aids, especially in those individuals who are annoyed by background noise. Copyright ? 2015 The Authors. Production & hosting by Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd On behalf of PLA General Hospital Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Development and validation of Hyperacusis Handicap Questionnaire in individuals with tinnitus associated with hyperacusis

Introduction:Hypersensitivity to sound and tinnitus are often co-morbid and can influence emotional well-being,hearing,sleep,concentration,cause anxiety,and interfere with speech perception in noise.Purpose:A clear measure of sensitivity to sound is important as there is dearth in standard protocol for evaluating hyperacusis in individuals with tinnitus.Although there are a few questionnaires to assess hyperacusis,a direct application of these questionnaires in the Indian context would be unfavorable.Objectives:The study attempts to develop and validate an indigenous Hyperacusis Handicap Questionnaire(HHQ)for individuals with tinnitus associated with hyperacusis.Method:A total of 25 questions were considered for validation.Further,21 questions were subdivided into three sections of seven questions each,tapping,‘Functional,’‘Social,’and‘Emotional’aspects of the condition.It was administered on 77 individuals with tinnitus associated with hyperacusis in the age range of 20e55 years for further validation.A total score was obtained by adding all the three sub-scales.Results:The internal consistency of the questionnaire was determined by Cronbach’s Alpha(a)was a?0.85;and,a?0.83 for Functional,a?0.81 for Social,a?0.7 for Emotional subscales suggesting that the questionnaire can be used for the assessment of handicap associated with hyperacusis in individuals with tinnitus.Also,no significant difference in terms of gender and duration of tinnitus comparisons were seen.Conclusions:The obtained results suggest that HHQ will aid in the characterization and quantification of the handicap associated with hyperacusis in individuals with tinnitus.

Management Tasks of Assessing Subjective Road Traffic Noise With Using Acoustic Maps—A New Approach

At present,acoustic maps are used in management tasks of assessing the acoustic climate of the environment.The methods of modeling and simulation of noise assessment indices are used for this purpose.These indicators represent the quantitative spatial distribution of the sound level.Research on the perception of sounds has been carried out for many years and it has been found out that subjective acoustic impressions are of significant importance.This paper proposes a quantitative and qualitative approach to the assessment of noise in the urbanized environment using acoustic maps.The features of sound quality and their importance in the modeling of noise annoyance assessment have been described.Acoustic measurements were made on the example of the selected case study in the environment.The results of modeling physical indicators of road noise in the environment with the use of acoustic maps are presented.Based on the registered acoustic measurements,the results of the sound quality features of the acoustic signals in the time and frequency domain are presented below.The determined values of sound quality features are a valuable source of information in the field of noise perception assessment.A model for assessing road noise has been proposed.It includes sound quality features which can be used in acoustic maps.As part of the discussion of the results,it was found that the obtained results of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the acoustic signal parameters can be the basis for the development of the road traffic noise annoyance assessment model using acoustic maps technology.

基于Yolov5s和Dlib的视频人脸识别

文章实现了基于Yolov5s和Dlib的视频实时人脸识别。基于开源的人脸数据集CelebA重新训练Yolov5s网络,使得Yolov5s能够检测并标记出图像中的人脸位置。将Yolov5s检测到的人脸区域图像输入到第三方人脸识别模块Dlib中,首先提取出68点人脸面部关键点,再将关键点生成人脸特征向量,同时通过Dlib模块提取事先准备好的需要识别的人脸图像的特征向量,并保存到相应的人脸数据库中。由于同一个人的人脸特征向量映射到高维空间的距离是接近的,基于此引入更高效Annoy算法对人脸特征向量创建索引,提高人脸识别速度。