TY - JOUR A1 - Erdmann, Matthias A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Development and evaluation of a mixed reality music visualization for a live performance based on music information retrieval JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - The present study explores the development and evaluation of a mixed reality music visualization for a live music performance. Real-time audio analysis and crossmodal correspondences were used as design guidelines for creating the visualization, which was presented through a head-mounted-display. To assess the impact of the music visualization on the audience’s aesthetic experience, a baseline visualization was designed, featuring the same visual elements but with random changes of color and movement. The audience’s aesthetic experience of the two conditions (i.e., listening to the same song with different visualizations) was assessed using the Aesthetic Emotions Scale (AESTHEMOS) questionnaire. Additionally, participants answered questions regarding the perceived audiovisual congruence of the stimuli and questionnaires about individual musicality and aesthetic receptivity. The results show that the visualization controlled by real-time audio analysis was associated with a slightly enhanced aesthetic experience of the audiovisual composition compared to the randomized visualization, thereby supporting similar findings reported in the literature. Furthermore, the tested personal characteristics of the participants did not significantly affect aesthetic experience. Significant correlations between these characteristics and the aesthetic experience were observed only when the ratings were averaged across conditions. An open interview provided deeper insights into the participants’ overall experiences of the live music performance. The results of the study offer insights into the development of real-time music visualization in mixed reality, examines how the specific audiovisual stimuli employed influence the aesthetic experience, and provides potential technical guidelines for creating new concert formats. KW - music visualization KW - mixed reality KW - real-time audio analysis KW - music information retrieval KW - aesthetic experience KW - concert formats KW - DFG Publikationskosten KW - HSD Publikationsfonds KW - Virtuelle Realität KW - Mixed Reality KW - Audiovisualisierung KW - Information Retrieval KW - Ästhetische Wahrnehmung KW - Musikwahrnehmung KW - Head-mounted Display Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-51110 SN - 2673-4192 N1 - Funding: Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 532148125 and supported by the central publication fund of Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. VL - 6 PB - Frontiers ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Von Berg, Markus A1 - Schwörer, Paul A1 - Prinz, Lukas A1 - Steffens, Jochen ED - Astolfi, Arianna ED - Asdrubali, Francesco ED - Shtrepi, Louena T1 - Analysis of physical and perceptual properties of room impulse responses: development of an online tool T2 - Proceedings of the 10th Convention of the European Acoustics Association Forum Acusticum 2023, September 11 - 15, 2023,Torino, Italy N2 - Over the past decades, research in room acoustics has established several derivative measures of an impulse response, some of which are incorporated in the ISO 3382 standards. These parameters intend to represent perceptual qualities, but were developed without a consistent modeling of room acoustical perception. More recent research proposed comprehensive inventories of room acoustic perception that are purely based on evaluations by human subjects, such as the Room Acoustical Quality Index (RAQI). In this work RAQI scores acquired for 70 room impulse responses were predicted from room acoustical parameters. Except for Reverberance, the prediction of RAQI factors performed rather poor. In most cases, the sound source had a greater impact on RAQI scores. All analyses are published in an online tool, where users can upload omnidirectional and binaural impulse responses, and instantly obtain and visualize several physical descriptors, as well as predicted RAQI scores for three different sound sources. So far, acceptable prediction accuracy is achieved for Reverberance, Strength, Irregular Decay, Clarity and Intimacy. Larger data sets of evaluated impulse responses are required to improve the model performance and enable reliable predictions of room acoustical quality. Therefore, the administration of RAQI evaluations within the website is currently being developed. KW - Raumakustik KW - Konzertsaal KW - Webanwendung Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-47929 SN - 978-88-88942-67-4 SN - 2221-3767 SP - 1647 EP - 1654 PB - European Acoustics Association CY - Turin, Italy ER - TY - JOUR A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Himmelein, Hendrik A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Effects of noise sensitivity and listening effort on perceptual ratings of background noise JF - JASA Express Letters N2 - Previous research suggests that noise sensitivity is related to inefficient auditory processing that might increase the mental load of noise and affect noise evaluation. This assumption was tested in an experiment using a dual-task paradigm with a visual primary task and an auditory secondary task. Results showed that participants' noise sensitivity was positively correlated with mental effort. Furthermore, mental effort mediated the effect of noise sensitivity on loudness and unpleasantness ratings. The results thus support the idea that noise sensitivity is related to increased mental effort and difficulties in filtering auditory information and that situational factors should be considered. KW - noise sensitivity KW - listening effort KW - Geräuschempfindlichkeit KW - Höranstrengung KW - HSD Publikationsfonds KW - DFG Publikationskosten Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-45747 SN - 2691-1191 N1 - Funding: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – 532148125 und durch den zentralen Publikationsfonds der Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. VL - 8 IS - 4 PB - AIP Publishing ER - TY - CHAP A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Bitta, Joshua A1 - Versümer, Siegbert A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Investigation of auditory memory through loudness reproduction in the laboratory [Abstract] T2 - DAS|DAGA 2025: 51st Annual Meeting on Acoustics, March 17-20, 2025, Copenhagen KW - Gedächtnis KW - Lautwahrnehmung KW - Lautstärke Y1 - 2025 UR - https://pub.dega-akustik.de/DAS-DAGA_2025/konferenz-1497.html?article=132 PB - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik e.V. CY - Berlin ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Hüsen, Jonas A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Evaluating the Effectiveness of Virtual Listening Tests for Balanced Armature Headphone Drivers [Abstract] T2 - DAS|DAGA 2025: 51st Annual Meeting on Acoustics, March 17-20, 2025, Copenhagen KW - Kopfhörer KW - Treiberschaltung KW - Evaluation Y1 - 2025 UR - https://pub.dega-akustik.de/DAS-DAGA_2025/konferenz-1498.html?article=351 PB - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik e.V. CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Versümer, Siegbert A1 - Bitta, Joshua A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Reduced reproduction levels of outdoor soundscapes are deemed appropriate - even after real-world exposure JF - Acta Acustica N2 - Laboratory experiments in psychoacoustical and soundscape research indicate that participants perceive a reproduction sound level lowered by 8-10 dB as more plausible than the original level. This bias supposedly roots in an adaptation of perceptual loudness scaling to the laboratory environment, that is overall quieter than urban outdoor soundscapes. To gain further insights into the nature of such loudness bias, we conducted a listening experiment in both field and laboratory using a within-subjects design. Thirty-one participants visited a street and listened to the environmental sounds for one minute, while these sounds were also recorded using a dummy head. Thereafter, they listened to the recording in a quiet laboratory nearby and adjusted its level as they remembered it. About half of the sample did this immediately, the other half about 20 minutes after the recording. Results confirm a bias towards lower levels with a mean of about 8.9 dB, regardless of the time between the recording and the reproduction in the laboratory. Also, participants with higher musical abilities tended to select higher, more accurate levels, whereas noise-sensitive participants deemed lower levels appropriate. Results suggest that the hypothesized adaptation of perceptual scaling to the laboratory happens immediately and is affected by individual factors. KW - Psychoakustik KW - Lautwahrnehmung KW - Lautstärke Y1 - 2025 UR - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17663267 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/aacus/2025062 SN - 2681-4617 N1 - Acta Acustica, Forthcoming article, Accepted Manuscript PB - EDP Sciences ER - TY - GEN A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Versümer, Siegbert A1 - Steffens, Jochen A1 - Bitta, Joshua T1 - Reproduction levels of outdoor soundscapes in the lab after in-situ exposure: participant responses and recording level envelopes N2 - Supplemental material for https://doi.org/10.1051/aacus/2025062 To investigate loudness biases in the lab, where outdoor sounds are perceived as being too loud if reproduced with physically accurate levels in the lab, a listening experiment was conducted, where thirty-one participants visited a street and listened to the environmental sounds for one minute. These sounds were also recorded using a dummy head. Afterwards, participants listened to the recording in a quiet laboratory and adjusted its level as they remembered it. About half of the sample did this immediately, the other half about 20 min after the recording, during which the performed another listening tests. Afterwards, previous experience with acoustics, musical sophistication and noise sensitivity were assessed. The results revealed a mean gain adjustment of 8.9 dB below the original. The data uploaded here comprises participants gain adjustment, the recording levels averaged other A) the entire recording and B) the first and last 7.5s or 15s, respecitvely and all questionnaire responses as well as aggregate scores for musical sophistication and noise sensitivity, as well as a binary categorization of the respondent into laymen and experienced, based on their previous experience with acoustics. For sociodemographic information, participants age, sex and educational degree are reported as well. Content - 00_Description: - Description of the data files - Includes a list of explanation of the columns names in "data_questionnaires_aggregateLevels.csv - data_questionnaires_aggregateLevels.csv - Participants' adjusted recordings levels - Several level and loudness aggregates of each participant's recording that were analyzed in the paper - Participants' responses to the administered questionnaires - level_envelopes.zip - Archive with 31 CSV files containing level envelopes of each participant's recording. - A-weighted and unweighted level envelope for the dummy head's left and right ear - One-minute recordings with a temporal resolution of 125ms KW - Psychoakustik KW - Lautwahrnehmung KW - Lautstärke Y1 - 2025 UR - https://doi.org/10.1051/aacus/2025062 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17663267 PB - Zenodo ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Himmelein, Hendrik A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Pörschmann, Christoph A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Influence of mental effort on sound evaluations in virtual and real experimental environments JF - Frontiers in Virtual Reality N2 - Psychoacoustic research increasingly relies on virtual reality (VR) to account for the complexity of acoustic scenarios and enhance the ecological validity of laboratory findings. However, recent studies suggest that virtual environments can alter mental effort compared to real-world settings, for example, through increased perceptual complexity which in turn may affect auditory perception.This could bias experimental outcomes and compromise the ecological validity of studies conducted in VR. To investigate this, a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment was conducted to assess whether VR environments increase mental effort and thereby influence auditory perception. A real office environment was visually reconstructed in Unity and presented to the participants via a head-mounted display (HMD) and compared to its real counterpart. Participants in both environments were asked to retrospectively rate the loudness and unpleasantness of dynamically rendered binaural office noise scenarios presented via headphones and to report perceived sound sources. Moreover, participants were divided into two groups to induce different levels of mental effort. One group was asked to listen only to the sounds, while the other performed the Stroop Color-Word interference test in parallel. The results show no significant difference in the overall induced mental effort between environment conditions. Furthermore, performing the Stroop test had an effect on loudness and unpleasantness that was mediated by subjective effort. The results also suggest that auditory jugment depend primarily on individual sound properties, regardless of the visual environment. KW - Psychoakustik KW - Virtuelle Realität KW - Lautwahrnehmung KW - Head-mounted Display Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-57985 SN - 2673-4192 VL - 6 PB - Frontiers Media SA ER - TY - CHAP A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Prinz, Lukas A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Comparing individual perception of timbre and reverberance BT - Proceedings of the 24th International Congress on Acoustics N2 - Room reverberation alters the spatial impression and timbre of a sound by modulating its spectral and temporal characteristics. Thus, we argue that, on a perceptual level, reverberation basically breaks down into interaural differences and spectro-temporal cues and that the separation of a perceived timbre into a sound source and a surrounding room is a purely cognitive process. To investigate the connection between the perception of reverberation cues and timbre analysis, the sensitivity for changes in reverberation was compared to timbre perception abilities. The Timbre Perception Test was used to measure the perception of the temporal envelope, spectral centroid, and spectral flux of artificial sounds. Sensitivity for changes in reverberation time was tested with a discrimination task using speech and noise with speech-alike spectral and temporal envelopes as source signals. Musical and acoustical expertise was assessed through the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index and self-reports on experience with and knowledge of acoustics. There was a considerable correlation between timbre and reverberance perception ability, but timbre perception and academic experience predicted only 41% of the variance in reverberance perception. Still, perception abilities related to similar acoustical phenomena seem to be better indicators of listening skills than self-reports on acoustical or musical expertise. KW - Timbre KW - Klangfarbe KW - Reverberation KW - Nachhall Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-38706 UR - https://ica2022korea.org/data/Proceedings_A11.pdf PB - International Commission for Acoustics CY - Gyeoungju, Südkorea ER - TY - JOUR A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Wolf, Anna-Christina A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Age- and Sex-Related Differences in Music Requests on a Radio Show for Children JF - Music & Science N2 - In research on the development of musical preferences, children are often asked either to evaluate musical pieces that have been previously selected by adult experimenters, or to give self-reports on preferences for different musical styles. This study involved analyzing a sample of 1,412 freely and publicly expressed music requests from children aged between 4 and 11 years taken from a German radio program, with regard to age- and sex-specific differences. The music was categorized into genres, as listed on Spotify, and examined using methods of music information retrieval provided by the Spotify Developer application programming interface. Results showed that, at younger ages, the requests were generally more evenly distributed across different genres. Regarding single genres, we observed small positive relationships between age and the likelihood of requesting the genres pop or electro and small negative relationships between age and the likelihood of requesting A capella, German songwriter, indie, theme songs, or children's music. Furthermore, we found that boys requested significantly more rock or hip-hop, whereas girls had a higher tendency to ask for pop. Finally, age- (but no sex-) related differences regarding the Spotify features of valence and liveness of the requested music were found, which were related to the preference for children's music at younger ages. The results thus suggest that previous findings regarding differences between boys and girls and an increasing formation of distinct genre preferences during infancy also apply to single song requests made on a radio show. KW - children’s music KW - children’s musical preferences KW - genre preferences KW - music requests KW - musical identity KW - DFG Publikationskosten KW - HSD Publikationsfonds Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:due62-opus-46588 SN - 2059-2043 N1 - Funding: Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 532148125 and supported by the central publication fund of Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. VL - 7 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - Sage Publications ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Hüsen, Jonsa A1 - von Berg, Markus A1 - Steffens, Jochen T1 - Evaluating the Effectiveness of Virtual Listening Tests for Balanced Armature Headphone Drivers T2 - AES International Conference on Headphone Technology 2025 August 27–29, Espoo, Finland Y1 - 2025 UR - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22929 IS - 3 PB - Audio Engineering Society ER -