Sensory Evaluation of Sound provides a detailed review of the latest sensory evaluation techniques, specifically applied to the evaluation of sound and audio. This three-part book commences with an introduction to the fundamental role of sound and hearing, which is followed by an overview of sensory evaluation methods and associated univariate and multivariate statistical analysis techniques. The final part of the book provides several chapters with concrete real-world applications of sensory evaluation ranging from telecommunications, hearing aids design and binaural sound, via the latest research in concert hall acoustics through to audio-visual interaction. Aimed at the engineer, researcher, university student or manager the book gives insight into the advanced methods for the sensory evaluation with many application examples. Introduces the fundamental of hearing and the value of sound Provides a firm theoretical basis for advanced techniques in sensory evaluation of sound that are then illustrated with concrete examples from university research through to industrial product development Includes chapters on sensory evaluation practices and methods as well as univariate and multivariate statistical analysis Six application chapters covering a wide range of concrete sensory evaluation study examples including insight into audio-visual assessment Includes data analysis with several associated downloadable datasets Provides extensive references to the existing research literature, text books and standards
Sensory Evaluation of Sound provides a detailed review of the latest sensory evaluation techniques, specifically applied to the evaluation of sound and audio. This three-part book commences with an introduction to the fundamental role of sound and hearing, which is followed by an overview of sensory evaluation methods and associated univariate and multivariate statistical analysis techniques. The final part of the book provides several chapters with concrete real-world applications of sensory evaluation ranging from telecommunications, hearing aids design and binaural sound, via the latest research in concert hall acoustics through to audio-visual interaction. Aimed at the engineer, researcher, university student or manager the book gives insight into the advanced methods for the sensory evaluation with many application examples. Introduces the fundamental of hearing and the value of sound Provides a firm theoretical basis for advanced techniques in sensory evaluation of sound that are then illustrated with concrete examples from university research through to industrial product development Includes chapters on sensory evaluation practices and methods as well as univariate and multivariate statistical analysis Six application chapters covering a wide range of concrete sensory evaluation study examples including insight into audio-visual assessment Includes data analysis with several associated downloadable datasets Provides extensive references to the existing research literature, text books and standards
The field of sensory evaluation has matured in the last half century to be come a recognized discipline in the food and consumer sciences and an important part of the foods and consumer products industries. Sensory pro fessionals enjoy widespread recognition for the important services they provide in new product development, basic research, ingredient and process modification, cost reduction, quality maintenance, and product op timization. These services enhance the informational support for manage ment decisions, lowering the risk that accompanies the decision-making process. From the consumers' perspective, a sensory testing program in a food or consumer products company helps ensure that products reach the market with not only good concepts but also with desirable sensory attrib utes that meet their expectations. Sensory professionals have advanced well beyond the stage when they were simply called on to execute "taste" tests and to provide statistical summaries of results. They are now frequently asked to participate in the decision process itself, to draw reasoned conclusions based on data, and to make recommendations. They are also expected to be well versed in an in creasingly sophisticated battery of test methods and statistical procedures, including multivariate analyses. As always, sensory professionals also need to understand people, for people are the measuring instruments that provide the basic sensory data. People are notoriously variable and diffi cult to calibrate, presenting the sensory specialist with many additional XV xvi PREFACE measurement problems that are not present in instrumental methods.
The ?eld of sensory science has grown exponentially since the publication of the p- vious version of this work. Fifteen years ago the journal Food Quality and Preference was fairly new. Now it holds an eminent position as a venue for research on sensory test methods (among many other topics). Hundreds of articles relevant to sensory testing have appeared in that and in other journals such as the Journal of Sensory Studies. Knowledge of the intricate cellular processes in chemoreception, as well as their genetic basis, has undergone nothing less than a revolution, culminating in the award of the Nobel Prize to Buck and Axel in 2004 for their discovery of the olfactory receptor gene super family. Advances in statistical methodology have accelerated as well. Sensometrics meetings are now vigorous and well-attended annual events. Ideas like Thurstonian modeling were not widely embraced 15 years ago, but now seem to be part of the everyday thought process of many sensory scientists. And yet, some things stay the same. Sensory testing will always involve human participants. Humans are tough measuring instruments to work with. They come with varying degrees of acumen, training, experiences, differing genetic equipment, sensory capabilities, and of course, different preferences. Human foibles and their associated error variance will continue to place a limitation on sensory tests and actionable results. Reducing, controlling, partitioning, and explaining error variance are all at the heart of good test methods and practices.
This new edition of a bestseller covers all phases of performing sensory evaluation studies, from listing the steps involved in a sensory evaluation project to presenting advanced statistical methods. Like its predecessors, Sensory Evaluation Techniques, Fifth Edition gives a clear and concise presentation of practical solutions, accepted methods,
From listing the steps involved in a sensory evaluation project to presenting advanced statistical methods, Sensory Evaluation Techniques, Fourth Edition covers all phases of sensory evaluation. Like its bestselling predecessors, this edition continues to detail all sensory tests currently in use, to promote the effective employment of these tests, and to describe major sensory evaluation practices. The expert authors have updated and added many areas in this informative guide. New to this edition are expanded chapters on qualitative and quantitative consumer research and the SpectrumTM method of descriptive sensory analysis that now contains full descriptive lexicons for numerous products, such as cheese, mayonnaise, spaghetti sauce, white bread, cookies, and toothpaste. Also new in this chapter is a set of revised flavor intensity scales for crispness, juiciness, and some common aromatics. The book now includes an overview of Thurstonian scaling that examines the decision processes employed by assessors during their evaluations of products. Another addition is a detailed discussion of data-relationship techniques, which link data from diverse sources that are collected on the same set of examples. With numerous examples and sample tests, Sensory Evaluation Techniques, Fourth Edition remains an essential resource that illustrates the development of sensory perception testing.
Sound, devoid of meaning, would not matter to us. It is the information sound conveys that helps the brain to understand its environment. Sound and its underlying meaning are always associated with time and space. There is no sound without spatial properties, and the brain always organizes this information within a temporal–spatial framework. This book is devoted to understanding the importance of meaning for spatial and related further aspects of hearing, including cross-modal inference. People, when exposed to acoustic stimuli, do not react directly to what they hear but rather to what they hear means to them. This semiotic maxim may not always apply, for instance, when the reactions are reflexive. But, where it does apply, it poses a major challenge to the builders of models of the auditory system. Take, for example, an auditory model that is meant to be implemented on a robotic agent for autonomous search-&-rescue actions. Or think of a system that can perform judgments on the sound quality of multimedia-reproduction systems. It becomes immediately clear that such a system needs • Cognitive capabilities, including substantial inherent knowledge • The ability to integrate information across different sensory modalities To realize these functions, the auditory system provides a pair of sensory organs, the two ears, and the means to perform adequate preprocessing of the signals provided by the ears. This is realized in the subcortical parts of the auditory system. In the title of a prior book, the term Binaural Listening is used to indicate a focus on sub-cortical functions. Psychoacoustics and auditory signal processing contribute substantially to this area. The preprocessed signals are then forwarded to the cortical parts of the auditory system where, among other things, recognition, classification, localization, scene analysis, assignment of meaning, quality assessment, and action planning take place. Also, information from different sensory modalities is integrated at this level. Between sub-cortical and cortical regions of the auditory system, numerous feedback loops exist that ultimately support the high complexity and plasticity of the auditory system. The current book concentrates on these cognitive functions. Instead of processing signals, processing symbols is now the predominant modeling task. Substantial contributions to the field draw upon the knowledge acquired by cognitive psychology. The keyword Binaural Understanding in the book title characterizes this shift. Both books, The Technology of Binaural Listening and the current one, have been stimulated and supported by AABBA, an open research group devoted to the development and application of models of binaural hearing. The current book is dedicated to technologies that help explain, facilitate, apply, and support various aspects of binaural understanding. It is organized into five parts, each containing three to six chapters in order to provide a comprehensive overview of this emerging area. Each chapter was thoroughly reviewed by at least two anonymous, external experts. The first part deals with the psychophysical and physiological effects of Forming and Interpreting Aural Objects as well as the underlying models. The fundamental concepts of reflexive and reflective auditory feedback are introduced. Mechanisms of binaural attention and attention switching are covered—as well as how auditory Gestalt rules facilitate binaural understanding. A general blackboard architecture is introduced as an example of how machines can learn to form and interpret aural objects to simulate human cognitive listening. The second part, Configuring and Understanding Aural Space, focuses on the human understanding of complex three-dimensional environments—covering the psychological and biological fundamentals of auditory space formation. This part further addresses the human mechanisms used to process information and interact in complex reverberant environments, such as concert halls and forests, and additionally examines how the auditory system can learn to understand and adapt to these environments. The third part is dedicated to Processing Cross-Modal Inference and highlights the fundamental human mechanisms used to integrate auditory cues with cues from other modalities to localize and form perceptual objects. This part also provides a general framework for understanding how complex multimodal scenes can be simulated and rendered. The fourth part, Evaluating Aural-scene Quality and Speech Understanding, focuses on the object-forming aspects of binaural listening and understanding. It addresses cognitive mechanisms involved in both the understanding of speech and the processing of nonverbal information such as Sound Quality and Quality-of- Experience. The aesthetic judgment of rooms is also discussed in this context. Models that simulate underlying human processes and performance are covered in addition to techniques for rendering virtual environments that can then be used to test these models. The fifth part deals with the Application of Cognitive Mechanisms to Audio Technology. It highlights how cognitive mechanisms can be utilized to create spatial auditory illusions using binaural and other 3D-audio technologies. Further, it covers how cognitive binaural technologies can be applied to improve human performance in auditory displays and to develop new auditory technologies for interactive robots. The book concludes with the application of cognitive binaural technologies to the next generation of hearing aids.
Spatial audio is a dynamic and rapidly evolving field, as it is closely linked to advances in computer technology and digital signal processing. The democratization of virtual reality hardware available as consumer devices has moved the field further out of traditional laboratory research, and directly into applied research targeting a wide range of consumers. Advances in Fundamental and Applied Research on Spatial Audio presents a collection of eight peer-reviewed chapters on this exciting area of research. The contributions are organized into three sections: “Acoustic Methodology”, “Perception”, and “Applications”, and cover a range of topics, addressing both headphone- and loudspeaker-based reproductions, offering both methodological overviews and specific case studies.
Even though the perception of food quality may depend on its hedonic and often subjective attributes, it is essential to quantitatively evaluate its quality and safety. Fortunately, the advent of sophisticated systems, including nondestructive testing techniques, has made it possible to definitively evaluate food quality. Reflecting these advances,
This book serves as a guide to developing and designing the right sound to enhance a product’s identity, its use, its affordance and its acceptance by consumers. It is of interest to designers, researchers, R&D departments, marketing experts and industries involved in the exploration of the new frontiers now offered by sound. We are all immersed in an intangible world of sounds; however, the fact that only an infinitesimal part of the sound to which we are exposed has been wittingly created is often ignored. An interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approach encompassing design methods and design engineering, psychology and cognitive ergonomics, acoustics and psychoacoustics contributes to the improvement of product sound development. Providing readers with an overview of design methods in which sound becomes a new requirement, the book investigates the role of sound from the consumer viewpoint, presents several tools and practical examples of sensory design tools and projects, and lastly, introduces a new tool and method developed expressly to support the design of product sound.
As the main theme of Improving Complex Systems Today implies, this book is intended to provide readers with a new perspective on concurrent engineering from the standpoint of systems engineering. It can serve as a versatile tool to help readers to navigate the ever-changing state of this particular field. The primary focus of concurrent engineering was, at first, on bringing downstream information as far upstream as possible by introducing parallel processing in order to reduce time to market and to prevent errors at a later stage which would sometimes cause irrevocable damage. Up to now, numerous new concepts, methodologies and tools have been developed, but over concurrent engineering’s 20-year history the situation has changed extensively. Now, industry has to work in the global marketplace and to cope with diversifying requirements and increasing complexities. Such globalization and diversification necessitate collaboration across different fields and across national boundaries. Thus, the new concurrent engineering calls for a systems approach to gain global market competitiveness. Improving Complex Systems Today provides a new insight into concurrent engineering today.
This volume provides a comprehensive introduction to foundational topics in sound design for interactive media, such as gaming and virtual reality; compositional techniques; new interfaces; sound spatialization; sonic cues and semiotics; performance and installations; music on the web; augmented reality applications; and sound producing software design. The reader will gain a broad understanding of the key concepts and practices that define sound design for its use in computational media and design. The chapters are written by international authors from diverse backgrounds who provide multidisciplinary perspectives on sound in its interactive forms. The volume is designed as a textbook for students and teachers, as a handbook for researchers in sound, design and media, and as a survey of key trends and ideas for practitioners interested in exploring the boundaries of their profession.
