Effects of noise and reverberation on sound localization of acoustic guide signals for visually impaired people in public spaces

The role of acoustic guide signals is to lead visually impaired persons to their destination points. However, little scientific evidence indicates that acoustical guide signals that are currently used in Japan can play that role. This study was undertaken to evaluate the sound-localization performance of typical acoustical guide signals under noisy conditions and in a reverberant sound field. Results of listening tests suggest that 1) effects of noise on sound localization can be presented as a function of the signal-to-noise ratio, 2) the initial delay time and reverberation energy are more important than the reverberation time, and 3) a temporal pattern of a guide signal is an important factor for sound localization in reverberant sound fields.