Lisa Lavia - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Lisa Lavia
Korean Society of Noise and Vibration Engineering, Aug 23, 2020
Noise annoyance is the most prevalent community response in populations exposed to environmental ... more Noise annoyance is the most prevalent community response in populations exposed to environmental noise. In 1993 the ICBEN Community Response to Noise team started work formalising a standardised methodology for assessing noise annoyance, which resulted in reporting guidelines and recommendations for standard questions, which was later published by the International Standards Organization as a Technical Standard in 2003 (ISO/TS 15666: 2003). This Technical Standard is used to quantify exposure-response relationships between noise exposure and annoyance internationally. ISO/TS 15666:2003 has now been in operation for nearly two decades. This paper will report on the work of an international working group, as part of ISO TC43/SC1/WG62, tasked with revising and updating the Technical Standard. This paper will review use of the Technical Standard; discuss its revision; and highlight research needs and gaps that, if addressed, would help to further strengthen the methodology underlying th...
In order to help develop an applied soundscape strategy for the City of Brighton & Hove, in the U... more In order to help develop an applied soundscape strategy for the City of Brighton & Hove, in the United Kingdom, we conducted a social survey, as part of a project called Sounding Brighton, via a questionnaire study. The survey, in which members of the public were invited to participate anonymously, was supported by the EU COST Action TD0804 “Soundscapes of European Cities and Landscapes”, in cooperation with Brighton & Hove City Council and Local Action Teams. In total, 354 individuals, 15 years or older, completed the questionnaire. It consisted of four parts: (1) noise annoyance, (2) favourite outdoor location in Brighton & Hove and the social and recreational activities it entails, (3) what sounds are appropriate to the favourite location, and (4) demographic data. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, 5 categories of favourite locations, as well as 5 categories of recreational soundscapes, were found. The categories of favourite locations in Brighton & Hove were named: ‘Beach & S...
As soundscape is a multi-disciplinary approach, it is essential that well evidenced case studies ... more As soundscape is a multi-disciplinary approach, it is essential that well evidenced case studies are developed in order to effectively map the causal links, gateways, and relationships necessary for the effective planning and execution of future work for the benefit of all. Filling the gap between the technical and pragmatic approaches to design for soundscape management will enable practitioners to provide practical guidance, and recommended collaboration models with citizens as co-specifiers of projects, in line with the international soundscape standard. This will enable better identification of the issues that need to be considered when planning, specifying and designing new projects, deciding which experts should be involved, and which tools and methodologies to employ to enable holistic, environmentally and socially sustainable outcomes. This paper will explore a soundscape-based community engagement conceptual model, developed through a series of applied projects in Brighton ...
2014 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), 2014
In this paper, we investigate the influence of music on human walking behaviors in a public setti... more In this paper, we investigate the influence of music on human walking behaviors in a public setting monitored by surveillance cameras. To this end, we propose a novel algorithm to characterize the frequency and phase of the walk. It relies on a human-by-detection tracking framework, along with a robust fitting of the human head bobbing motion. Preliminary experiments conducted on more than 100 tracks show that an accuracy greater than 85% for foot strike estimation can be achieved, suggesting that large scale analysis is at reach for finer music/walking behavior relationship studies.
Regenerative building design represents a paradigm shift from current sustainability practices to... more Regenerative building design represents a paradigm shift from current sustainability practices towards a new design approach, as it focuses not only on limiting negative impacts but also on promoting a positive contribution to social and ecological systems. Regenerative design and indoor soundscape research share a multidisciplinary approach and the common aim of improving people ́s health and well-being. Indeed, soundscape science, originally developed in the context of urban planning, has been recently applied to the indoor built environment as a research framework that integrates noise control engineering methods with physical, social, and psychological approaches in order to foster the design of indoor spaces positively perceived by building users. The five questions presented in this paper investigate several aspects related to this emerging field of research: 1) the contribution of acoustic design to regenerative buildings; 2) differences and similarities between indoor and ou...
Sounding Brighton" is a collaborative project exploring practical approaches towards better sound... more Sounding Brighton" is a collaborative project exploring practical approaches towards better soundscapes focusing on soundscape issues related to health, quality of life and restorative functions of the environment. The project is part of a citywide engagement process working to provide opportunities to demonstrate how an applied soundscape approach might: tackle conventional noise problems, contribute to local planning and improve the environment in areas including urban green spaces, the built environment and traffic noise. So far, a soundscape map of the city has been developed, and a public outreach exhibition and conferences have taken place. One preliminary, experimental soundscape intervention in night noise has been analysed. This paper reports on further work to develop a better understanding of the effects of soundscapes on individual and community responses to soundscape through the use of body language indicators. Two-minute excerpts of aversive and preferred music were presented to 11 healthy volunteers in a motion-capture laboratory setting. Their responses were quantified computationally using motion-capture-derived parameters for position, absolute movement speed, and stillness. The prevalence of stillness of the head height (based on a 2 cm cutoff during 2-second sectors) was significantly lower when volunteers were exposed to unpleasant music compared to preferred music. This experiment provides proof in principle that changes in soundscape can be associated with subsequent, objective and statistically significant changes in body language that can be detected computationally.
In The Music of the Environment [1] R Murray Schafer gives examples of good and bad acoustic desi... more In The Music of the Environment [1] R Murray Schafer gives examples of good and bad acoustic design and the way these might affect people’s moods or potentially act as a ‘harmonising influence’. Building upon these ideas, researchers have begun to explore the potential of soundscape management to have a profound impact on the sorts of behaviour observed in these environments. This project’s initial experiment explored the positive effects of soundscapes on crowd behaviour [2]. The case study called ‘West Street Story’ was a night-noise intervention pilot. It tested a 3D outdoor ambient sound installation and what effect this might have on levels of anti-social behaviour and sense of security. Police feedback from the event confirmed how much ‘quieter’ the area was than normal, to the extent that they were confident enough to redeploy forces elsewhere in the city. Building upon these findings, a more scientifically controlled investigation of similar themes was conducted in a pedestr...
Brighton & Hove is a thriving UK seaside city facing new and ongoing noise issues. It is a destin... more Brighton & Hove is a thriving UK seaside city facing new and ongoing noise issues. It is a destination city with a wide range of restaurants, bars and clubs, which, along with an impressive arts and cultural offer adds to the excitement and interest both for residents and visitors. Brighton provides support to the creative arts, attracts business and investment in the fabric of the city. Two key issues face Urban Planning. Balancing the needs of the tourist and night time economy against the demands of residents for a peaceful and quiet enjoyment of city centre residential areas and the challenge of designing and manage public spaces that embrace principles of Soundscape planning in a compact and densely populated city. This paper will introduce different ways of tackling these problems which are shared and experienced by European cities using Urban Sound Planning. In particular, this paper reviews the introduction of Urban Sound Planning as a credible and valuable discipline, to work alongside design and management professionals of public spaces. In Brighton the SONORUS project compliments traditional disciplines in the planning process and delivers the benefits of integrating sound planning in public realm development projects. Planning and consultation work is currently taking place around the regeneration of a city centre linear park which is seriously compromised by traffic noise, as well as the regeneration of Brighton Rail Station environs and a local shopping district which experience similar problems.
More accurate non-participatory parameters and psychoacoustics to assess human perceptual respons... more More accurate non-participatory parameters and psychoacoustics to assess human perceptual responses to the acoustic environment are critical to inform effective urban sound planning and applied soundscape practice. Non-participatory observation methods are widely used by experts to capture animal behaviour. In 2012, Lavia and Witchel applied these principles and methodologies for the first time to capturing and 19 April 2017 Chapter DRAFT, Submitted for Review for inclusion in the upcoming book, "PerceptionDriven Approaches to Urban Assessment and Design." Eds Francesco Alette and Xieling Xiao assessing human behaviour ‘in the wild’ to changes to the acoustic environment using added sound and music interventions in a clubbing district. Subsequent work was conducted with Aletta and Kang and Healey, Howes, Steffens and Fiebig to begin characterising the acoustic environment and human responses to align the perceptual and physical findings. Here, the authors report on new wor...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Advances in Civil and Industrial Engineering
More accurate non-participatory parameters and psychoacoustics to assess human perceptual respons... more More accurate non-participatory parameters and psychoacoustics to assess human perceptual responses to the acoustic environment are critical to inform effective urban sound planning and applied soundscape practice. Non-participatory observation methods are widely used by experts to capture animal behavior. In 2012, Lavia and Witchel applied these principles and methodologies for the first time to capturing and assessing human behavior “in the wild” to changes to the acoustic environment using added sound and music interventions in a clubbing district. Subsequent work was conducted with Aletta and Kang and Healey, Howes, Steffens, and Fiebig to begin characterizing the acoustic environment and human responses to align the perceptual and physical findings. Here, the authors report on new work and analysis and propose a preliminary predictive agile applied soundscape framework using non-participatory observation methods and psychoacoustics to be used with environmental assessment pract...
Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Congress and Conference Proceedings
Effective soundscape planning, in accordance with the ISO soundscape standard series, is predicat... more Effective soundscape planning, in accordance with the ISO soundscape standard series, is predicated on accurately assessing the human response to sound in context. ccurately assess the human response for this purpose requires the identification of context specific non-acoustic factors (NAFs). In particular, the NAF of stakeholders' perceived control over sound from developments directly impacts the effectiveness of engagement in planning processes. However, what constitutes perceived control can vary widely, including stakeholders' experiences, perceptions and requirements in context. Perceived control affect quality of life and therefore it is a factor in sustainable planning and development processes. This primarily qualitative constructivist grounded theory study investigates the NAFs comprising stakeholders' perceived control and the impact on effective engagement in the context of planning and soundscape management for airport expansion projects in the UK. The initi...
Sustainability
The focus of the building industry and research is shifting from delivering satisfactory spaces t... more The focus of the building industry and research is shifting from delivering satisfactory spaces to going beyond what is merely acceptable with a wave of new research and practice dedicated to exploring how the built environment can support task performance and enhance people’s health and well-being. The present study addresses the role of acoustics in this paradigm shift. Indoor soundscape research has recently emerged as an approach that brings a perceptual perspective on building and room acoustics in order to shape built environments that “sound good” according to building occupants’ preference and needs. This paper establishes an initial discussion over some of the open questions in this field of research that is still in an embryonic stage. A thematic analysis of structured interviews with a panel of experts offered a range of perspectives on the characterization, management, and design of indoor soundscapes and health-related outcomes. The discussion pointed out the importance...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Building and Environment, 2016
Soundscape research represents a paradigm shift from noise control policies towards a new multidi... more Soundscape research represents a paradigm shift from noise control policies towards a new multidisciplinary approach as it involves not only physical measurements but also the cooperation of humanity and social sciences to account for the diversity of soundscapes across countries and cultures, with more focus on how people actually experience the acoustic environments; and it considers environmental sounds as a 'resource' rather than a 'waste'. The ten questions presented in this paper range from the very basic definitions underlying the emerging soundscape 'science', to more applied topics about how to use soundscape as a design approach for the planning and management of the built environments. Although significant research activity has been conducted so far, there is still a need to systematically provide the underpinning science and practical guidance in soundscaping. Thus, the last question aims to identify the most crucial gaps in soundscape research and set the agenda for future advancements in the field.
Soundscape and the Built Environment, 2015
Korean Society of Noise and Vibration Engineering, Aug 23, 2020
Noise annoyance is the most prevalent community response in populations exposed to environmental ... more Noise annoyance is the most prevalent community response in populations exposed to environmental noise. In 1993 the ICBEN Community Response to Noise team started work formalising a standardised methodology for assessing noise annoyance, which resulted in reporting guidelines and recommendations for standard questions, which was later published by the International Standards Organization as a Technical Standard in 2003 (ISO/TS 15666: 2003). This Technical Standard is used to quantify exposure-response relationships between noise exposure and annoyance internationally. ISO/TS 15666:2003 has now been in operation for nearly two decades. This paper will report on the work of an international working group, as part of ISO TC43/SC1/WG62, tasked with revising and updating the Technical Standard. This paper will review use of the Technical Standard; discuss its revision; and highlight research needs and gaps that, if addressed, would help to further strengthen the methodology underlying th...
In order to help develop an applied soundscape strategy for the City of Brighton & Hove, in the U... more In order to help develop an applied soundscape strategy for the City of Brighton & Hove, in the United Kingdom, we conducted a social survey, as part of a project called Sounding Brighton, via a questionnaire study. The survey, in which members of the public were invited to participate anonymously, was supported by the EU COST Action TD0804 “Soundscapes of European Cities and Landscapes”, in cooperation with Brighton & Hove City Council and Local Action Teams. In total, 354 individuals, 15 years or older, completed the questionnaire. It consisted of four parts: (1) noise annoyance, (2) favourite outdoor location in Brighton & Hove and the social and recreational activities it entails, (3) what sounds are appropriate to the favourite location, and (4) demographic data. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, 5 categories of favourite locations, as well as 5 categories of recreational soundscapes, were found. The categories of favourite locations in Brighton & Hove were named: ‘Beach & S...
As soundscape is a multi-disciplinary approach, it is essential that well evidenced case studies ... more As soundscape is a multi-disciplinary approach, it is essential that well evidenced case studies are developed in order to effectively map the causal links, gateways, and relationships necessary for the effective planning and execution of future work for the benefit of all. Filling the gap between the technical and pragmatic approaches to design for soundscape management will enable practitioners to provide practical guidance, and recommended collaboration models with citizens as co-specifiers of projects, in line with the international soundscape standard. This will enable better identification of the issues that need to be considered when planning, specifying and designing new projects, deciding which experts should be involved, and which tools and methodologies to employ to enable holistic, environmentally and socially sustainable outcomes. This paper will explore a soundscape-based community engagement conceptual model, developed through a series of applied projects in Brighton ...
2014 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), 2014
In this paper, we investigate the influence of music on human walking behaviors in a public setti... more In this paper, we investigate the influence of music on human walking behaviors in a public setting monitored by surveillance cameras. To this end, we propose a novel algorithm to characterize the frequency and phase of the walk. It relies on a human-by-detection tracking framework, along with a robust fitting of the human head bobbing motion. Preliminary experiments conducted on more than 100 tracks show that an accuracy greater than 85% for foot strike estimation can be achieved, suggesting that large scale analysis is at reach for finer music/walking behavior relationship studies.
Regenerative building design represents a paradigm shift from current sustainability practices to... more Regenerative building design represents a paradigm shift from current sustainability practices towards a new design approach, as it focuses not only on limiting negative impacts but also on promoting a positive contribution to social and ecological systems. Regenerative design and indoor soundscape research share a multidisciplinary approach and the common aim of improving people ́s health and well-being. Indeed, soundscape science, originally developed in the context of urban planning, has been recently applied to the indoor built environment as a research framework that integrates noise control engineering methods with physical, social, and psychological approaches in order to foster the design of indoor spaces positively perceived by building users. The five questions presented in this paper investigate several aspects related to this emerging field of research: 1) the contribution of acoustic design to regenerative buildings; 2) differences and similarities between indoor and ou...
Sounding Brighton" is a collaborative project exploring practical approaches towards better sound... more Sounding Brighton" is a collaborative project exploring practical approaches towards better soundscapes focusing on soundscape issues related to health, quality of life and restorative functions of the environment. The project is part of a citywide engagement process working to provide opportunities to demonstrate how an applied soundscape approach might: tackle conventional noise problems, contribute to local planning and improve the environment in areas including urban green spaces, the built environment and traffic noise. So far, a soundscape map of the city has been developed, and a public outreach exhibition and conferences have taken place. One preliminary, experimental soundscape intervention in night noise has been analysed. This paper reports on further work to develop a better understanding of the effects of soundscapes on individual and community responses to soundscape through the use of body language indicators. Two-minute excerpts of aversive and preferred music were presented to 11 healthy volunteers in a motion-capture laboratory setting. Their responses were quantified computationally using motion-capture-derived parameters for position, absolute movement speed, and stillness. The prevalence of stillness of the head height (based on a 2 cm cutoff during 2-second sectors) was significantly lower when volunteers were exposed to unpleasant music compared to preferred music. This experiment provides proof in principle that changes in soundscape can be associated with subsequent, objective and statistically significant changes in body language that can be detected computationally.
In The Music of the Environment [1] R Murray Schafer gives examples of good and bad acoustic desi... more In The Music of the Environment [1] R Murray Schafer gives examples of good and bad acoustic design and the way these might affect people’s moods or potentially act as a ‘harmonising influence’. Building upon these ideas, researchers have begun to explore the potential of soundscape management to have a profound impact on the sorts of behaviour observed in these environments. This project’s initial experiment explored the positive effects of soundscapes on crowd behaviour [2]. The case study called ‘West Street Story’ was a night-noise intervention pilot. It tested a 3D outdoor ambient sound installation and what effect this might have on levels of anti-social behaviour and sense of security. Police feedback from the event confirmed how much ‘quieter’ the area was than normal, to the extent that they were confident enough to redeploy forces elsewhere in the city. Building upon these findings, a more scientifically controlled investigation of similar themes was conducted in a pedestr...
Brighton & Hove is a thriving UK seaside city facing new and ongoing noise issues. It is a destin... more Brighton & Hove is a thriving UK seaside city facing new and ongoing noise issues. It is a destination city with a wide range of restaurants, bars and clubs, which, along with an impressive arts and cultural offer adds to the excitement and interest both for residents and visitors. Brighton provides support to the creative arts, attracts business and investment in the fabric of the city. Two key issues face Urban Planning. Balancing the needs of the tourist and night time economy against the demands of residents for a peaceful and quiet enjoyment of city centre residential areas and the challenge of designing and manage public spaces that embrace principles of Soundscape planning in a compact and densely populated city. This paper will introduce different ways of tackling these problems which are shared and experienced by European cities using Urban Sound Planning. In particular, this paper reviews the introduction of Urban Sound Planning as a credible and valuable discipline, to work alongside design and management professionals of public spaces. In Brighton the SONORUS project compliments traditional disciplines in the planning process and delivers the benefits of integrating sound planning in public realm development projects. Planning and consultation work is currently taking place around the regeneration of a city centre linear park which is seriously compromised by traffic noise, as well as the regeneration of Brighton Rail Station environs and a local shopping district which experience similar problems.
More accurate non-participatory parameters and psychoacoustics to assess human perceptual respons... more More accurate non-participatory parameters and psychoacoustics to assess human perceptual responses to the acoustic environment are critical to inform effective urban sound planning and applied soundscape practice. Non-participatory observation methods are widely used by experts to capture animal behaviour. In 2012, Lavia and Witchel applied these principles and methodologies for the first time to capturing and 19 April 2017 Chapter DRAFT, Submitted for Review for inclusion in the upcoming book, "PerceptionDriven Approaches to Urban Assessment and Design." Eds Francesco Alette and Xieling Xiao assessing human behaviour ‘in the wild’ to changes to the acoustic environment using added sound and music interventions in a clubbing district. Subsequent work was conducted with Aletta and Kang and Healey, Howes, Steffens and Fiebig to begin characterising the acoustic environment and human responses to align the perceptual and physical findings. Here, the authors report on new wor...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Advances in Civil and Industrial Engineering
More accurate non-participatory parameters and psychoacoustics to assess human perceptual respons... more More accurate non-participatory parameters and psychoacoustics to assess human perceptual responses to the acoustic environment are critical to inform effective urban sound planning and applied soundscape practice. Non-participatory observation methods are widely used by experts to capture animal behavior. In 2012, Lavia and Witchel applied these principles and methodologies for the first time to capturing and assessing human behavior “in the wild” to changes to the acoustic environment using added sound and music interventions in a clubbing district. Subsequent work was conducted with Aletta and Kang and Healey, Howes, Steffens, and Fiebig to begin characterizing the acoustic environment and human responses to align the perceptual and physical findings. Here, the authors report on new work and analysis and propose a preliminary predictive agile applied soundscape framework using non-participatory observation methods and psychoacoustics to be used with environmental assessment pract...
Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Congress and Conference Proceedings
Effective soundscape planning, in accordance with the ISO soundscape standard series, is predicat... more Effective soundscape planning, in accordance with the ISO soundscape standard series, is predicated on accurately assessing the human response to sound in context. ccurately assess the human response for this purpose requires the identification of context specific non-acoustic factors (NAFs). In particular, the NAF of stakeholders' perceived control over sound from developments directly impacts the effectiveness of engagement in planning processes. However, what constitutes perceived control can vary widely, including stakeholders' experiences, perceptions and requirements in context. Perceived control affect quality of life and therefore it is a factor in sustainable planning and development processes. This primarily qualitative constructivist grounded theory study investigates the NAFs comprising stakeholders' perceived control and the impact on effective engagement in the context of planning and soundscape management for airport expansion projects in the UK. The initi...
Sustainability
The focus of the building industry and research is shifting from delivering satisfactory spaces t... more The focus of the building industry and research is shifting from delivering satisfactory spaces to going beyond what is merely acceptable with a wave of new research and practice dedicated to exploring how the built environment can support task performance and enhance people’s health and well-being. The present study addresses the role of acoustics in this paradigm shift. Indoor soundscape research has recently emerged as an approach that brings a perceptual perspective on building and room acoustics in order to shape built environments that “sound good” according to building occupants’ preference and needs. This paper establishes an initial discussion over some of the open questions in this field of research that is still in an embryonic stage. A thematic analysis of structured interviews with a panel of experts offered a range of perspectives on the characterization, management, and design of indoor soundscapes and health-related outcomes. The discussion pointed out the importance...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Building and Environment, 2016
Soundscape research represents a paradigm shift from noise control policies towards a new multidi... more Soundscape research represents a paradigm shift from noise control policies towards a new multidisciplinary approach as it involves not only physical measurements but also the cooperation of humanity and social sciences to account for the diversity of soundscapes across countries and cultures, with more focus on how people actually experience the acoustic environments; and it considers environmental sounds as a 'resource' rather than a 'waste'. The ten questions presented in this paper range from the very basic definitions underlying the emerging soundscape 'science', to more applied topics about how to use soundscape as a design approach for the planning and management of the built environments. Although significant research activity has been conducted so far, there is still a need to systematically provide the underpinning science and practical guidance in soundscaping. Thus, the last question aims to identify the most crucial gaps in soundscape research and set the agenda for future advancements in the field.
Soundscape and the Built Environment, 2015