Authors: Hongisto, Valtteri; Keränen, Jukka; Larm, Petra

Source: Acta Acustica united with Acustica, Volume 90, Number 3, May/June 2004 , pp. 481-495(15)

Publisher: S. Hirzel Verlag

Abstract:

According to questionnaire studies, speech is the most annoying sound source in open-plan offices. The most distracting speech comes from the nearest workstations. Therefore, speech privacy between workstations should be as high as possible. This presupposes that the speech is properly attenuated and masked. The aim of this study is to present a simple and validated model that can predict the speech transmission index, STI, between two nearby workstations. The speech level propagating different paths and masking noise level from different sources are calculated using conventional room acoustical principles. Speech through the screen, reflected speech via ceiling, diffracted speech over the screen and reverberant speech were involved. Masking noise sources comprise, e.g., ventilation, office equipments, and artificial masking system. Speech intelligibility was determined from the speech-to-noise ratio using the Modulation Transfer Function method, which gives the speech transmission index and the rapid speech transmission index, RASTI. The model was validated using 30 randomly selected workstations in situ. The prediction accuracy was −0.03±0.04. Because the standard error of RASTI measurements was approximately ±0.02 in constant background level, the prediction accuracy of the model was found satisfactory.

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2004-05-01

More about this publication?

• Acta Acustica united with Acustica, published together with the European Acoustics Association (EAA), is an international, peer-reviewed journal on acoustics. It publishes original articles on all subjects in the field of acoustics, such as general linear acoustics, nonlinear acoustics, macrosonics, flow acoustics, atmospheric sound, underwater sound, ultrasonics, physical acoustics, structural acoustics, noise control, active control, environmental noise, building acoustics, room acoustics, acoustic materials, acoustic signal processing, computational and numerical acoustics, hearing, audiology and psychoacoustics, speech, musical acoustics, electroacoustics, auditory quality of systems. It reports on original scientific research in acoustics and on engineering applications. The journal considers scientific papers, technical and applied papers, book reviews, short communications, doctoral thesis abstracts, etc. In irregular intervals also special issues and review articles are published.
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