Data Recording of Audio Stimulus for Continuing Nurse Training Using Auditory Virtual Environment

A healthcare environment noise may reduce the nurse's ability and therefore, evaluating nurse's perception in noise environment and knowing their response in medical provision is being studied. During the VR era, auralisation has been used as one of the main technique to provide audio files which represent the real acoustic phenomenon within the room model. It is however very challenging to use auralisation technique in spaces where activities are continuously happening such as in the healthcare units. Therefore, the conventional RIR method is not suitable for this purpose of simulation. This paper proposed a combined technique in subjective evaluation and sound level measurement to determine the recording data scenario of the audio stimulus for auditory virtual environment. Questionnaire from 20 respondents (nurses) with 3 working shifts in 24 hours were collected in an ICU of National Hospital in Indonesia, a national benchmark ICU with less noise environment. Data collected demonstrates that nursing care is conducted mostly near the patient-beds, medical observations are being reported near patient's bed and inside the nurse station, and getting drugs from the pharmacy are the most daily work task done by nurses. The graph also demonstrates that medical equipment including mechanical ventilator and EKG monitor were the most influential sound sources which necessarily exist in ICU. These highlighted equipment respectively generate 75.5 dBA and 69.6 dBA then similarly decrease over the stepped distance about -2 dBA. Based on questionnaire result, 38 recorded files in binaural and ambisonic format have been collected to represent nurse's movement within ICU rooms due to their daily tasks and can be further considered for VR design for training purpose.