Auralizing comparable structural vibration measurements to inform design decisions

The design challenges presented by locating high-impact noise-producing athletic spaces, such as weight rooms and gymnasia adjacent to other occupied spaces are compounded by the difficulty in conveying the resulting experience through narratives or numeric performance criteria. As auralization tools can very effectively convey experiences in room acoustics and sound isolation, that effectiveness prompted an exploration into its possible use for conveying the experiences of impact-induced noise transfer resulting from difficult adjacencies. However, realistic and accurate auralization of a structural vibration path offers far more complex challenges than typical auralizations. For example, structural modeling for building design typically does not reach the resolution required for auralizations, if performed at all. Performance data for comparative floor types typically use tapping machines to comply with the Impact Isolation Class (IIC), which does not represent the response low-frequency content induced by heavy impacts. This paper dissects a case study of a method developed to address these challenges presenting a comparative auralization between athletic and gymnasium floor underlayment systems, enabling a client to experience the relative differences to aid design decisions. This included a method of presenting structural vibration with realistic source noise components and room effects to achieve a full soundscape.