Effect of dynamic visual form on sound preference of waterscape

Waterscape has a positive impact on the preference of public space. This study investigated three fountains in Harbin, China, to explore whether their dynamic visual form and corresponding sound rhythm change would affect the sound preference evaluation of the waterscapes. In total, 150 visitors were selected to answer a questionnaire on site, on how they perceived the fountain, including its visual and acoustic environment. It was found from the field experiment that people had different preferences for the sound of waterscape. The waterscape was then classified and subjectively evaluated in laboratory from visual and auditory aspects. The results show that, the evaluation of the rhythm of several kinds of water had little difference when there was no visual stimuli, but participants preferred dynamic visual form to steady-state continuous form, in which the significant rhythm change was more acceptant. The higher the score of visual form was, the better the evaluation of waterscape was. In general, in this study a significant positive correlation was observed between the dynamic visual form of fountain and the preference of waterscape.