Advanced description of noise perception by analysis of cross-sensory interactions within soundscapes

Preliminary works indicate that a comprehensive assessment of soundscapes requires integration of cross-sensory data into the evaluation process. From those first assumptions, however, it remains questionable how this information can be represented and used for an overall estimation of the perceptual impact of soundscapes on an individual. Environments for living and working in general provide complex stimuli of various sources, like noise, light, smell, tactile information and others. The first step of perceptive signal processing is to handle stimuli of various senses separately. The perceptual system then correlates the processed attributes and provides multisensory integration. The aim of sensory data processing is to establish multisensory perceptual objects estimating the structures of the world exterior to the perceiving subject. This presentation does not provide measured data. Intention of the presented approach, however, is to provide elements needed to establish a cross-sensory model which serves to estimate the perceptual relevance of a given environment. Such a model is needed to incorporate information of other senses into assessment of soundscapes, cross-sensory measurements and design for laboratory tests. The discussed essential features for a model include correlations to non-auditory attributes (colors, forms, movement etc.) as well as associative connections and semantic representations. Finally, concepts for a comprehensive analysis of soundscapes as well as for an experiment set-up are outlined.