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Physical environments, especially the sound environments of ILSs on a university campus, have become increasingly important in satisfying the diverse needs of students. Poor sound environments are widely acknowledged to lead to inefficient and underutilised spaces and to negatively influence students' learning outcomes. This study proposes two hypotheses to explore whether students' sound environment perceptions are related to their individual characteristics and whether students' preferences for the type of ILS are related to their sound environment sensitivities.

An investigation through a questionnaire survey has been conducted on both students' individual characteristics affecting their sound environment perceptions in informal learning spaces (ILSs) of a university campus and their sensitivities to the sound environments in ILSs affecting their preferences for the type of ILSs.

The research findings indicate that students' sound environment perceptions are associated with some of their individual characteristics. In addition, the results show that students' sound environment sensitivities affect their preferences for the type of ILS they occupy.

This study could help architects and managers of university learning spaces to provide better sound environments for students, thereby improving their learning outcomes. The article contributes valuable insights into the correlation between students' individual characteristics, sound environment perceptions and preferences for ILSs. The research findings add to the existing knowledge in this field and offer practical implications for enhancing design and management of university learning environments.

To guide facilities professionals regarding the use of scientific research and provide an objective framework in the decision making on facilities planning and management.

Eleven abstracts of scientific studies addressing the effects of sound in offices are reviewed and discussed. The correlation between subjective experience and objective assessment is investigated. The study indicates that subjective experience seldom parallel the objective assessment of the effects of sound in offices.

Few of the abstracts use standardised assessment strategies. This impairs comparison between studies. There is seldom convergence between end‐users’ view on the workplace (subjective experience) and the view of designers and facilities managers (objective assessment). This might make communication difficult between the users and professionals in projects.

This pilot study needs to be extended to a larger sample to confirm the results. Also, it indicates the need of measurement procedures and metrics that better correlate to the subjective experience of sound, to facilitate comparison between field studies.

This paper will help workplace managers and/or designers to make a better use of research in the decision making. It should not be used alone and should not replace the involvement of staff in the implementation of new work styles.

This paper stresses the importance of both research and end‐user involvement in design and management of workplaces. Also, the role of facilities managers as mediators between research and the end‐users of the facilities is emphasised.

The Reflective Middleware for Acoustic Management (ReM-AM), based on the Middleware for Cloud Learning Environments (AmICL), aims to improve the interaction between users and agents in a Smart Environment (SE) using acoustic services, in order to consider the unpredictable situations due to the sounds and vibrations. The middleware allows observing, analyzing, modifying and interacting in every state of a SE from the acoustics. This work details an extension of the ReM-AM using the ontology-driven architecture (ODA) paradigm for acoustic management.

This work details an extension of the ReM-AM using the ontology-driven architecture (ODA) paradigm for acoustic management. In this paper are defined the different domains of knowledge required for the management of the sounds in SEs, which are modeled using ontologies.

This work proposes an acoustics and sound ontology, a service-oriented architecture (SOA) ontology, and a data analytics and autonomic computing ontology, which work together. Finally, the paper presents three case studies in the context of smart workplace (SWP), ambient-assisted living (AAL) and Smart Cities (SC).

Future works will be based on the development of algorithms for classification and analysis of sound events, to help with emotion recognition not only from speech but also from random and separate sound events. Also, other works will be about the definition of the implementation requirements, and the definition of the real context modeling requirements to develop a real prototype.

In the case studies is possible to observe the flexibility that the ReM-AM middleware based on the ODA paradigm has by being aware of different contexts and acquire information of each, using this information to adapt itself to the environment and improve it using the autonomic cycles. To achieve this, the middleware integrates the classes and relations in its ontologies naturally in the autonomic cycles.

The main contribution of this work is the description of the ontologies required for future works about acoustic management in SE, considering that what has been studied by other works is the utilization of ontologies for sound event recognition but not have been expanded like knowledge source in an SE middleware. Specifically, this paper presents the theoretical framework of this work composed of the AmICL middleware, ReM-AM middleware and the ODA paradigm.

As hospitals are now being designed with an increasing number of single rooms or cubicles, the individual preference of patients with respect to social contact is of great interest. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the experience of patients in an outpatient infusion center.

A total of 29 semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and analyzed by using direct content analysis.

Findings showed that patients perceived a lack of acoustic privacy and therefore tried to emotionally isolate themselves or withheld information from staff. In addition, patients complained about the sounds of infusion pumps, but they were neutral about the interior features. Patients who preferred non-talking desired enclosed private rooms and perceived negative distraction because of spatial crowding. In contrast, patients who preferred talking, or had no preference, desired shared rooms and perceived positive distraction because of spatial crowding.

In conclusion, results showed a relation between physical aspects (i.e. physical enclosure) and the social environment.

The findings allow facility managers to better understand the patients’ experiences in an outpatient infusion facility and to make better-informed decisions. Patients with different preferences desired different physical aspects. Therefore, nursing staff of outpatient infusion centers should assess the preferences of patients. Moreover, architects should integrate different types of treatment places (i.e. enclosed private rooms and shared rooms) in new outpatient infusion centers to fulfill different preferences and patients should have the opportunity to discuss issues in private with nursing staff.

This study emphasizes the importance of a mix of treatment rooms, while new hospital designs mainly include single rooms or cubicles.

Recently, the acoustic characteristics of indoor spaces have been perceived to be more important due to the economic development needs of societies. At the same time, container houses have gradually become more widely used in many applications because of their sustainability and ease of use. In spite of their convenience, these container units still need to foster pleasant and quiet sound environments. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this paper, commercial software, designed by Ecotect Analysis, has been used to evaluate the sound characteristics of container houses. As a result, the decorated materials in such a small indoor space have been redesigned for the acoustic comfort of users based on the optimal reverberation time (RT). First, a three-dimensional model of the container house was constructed using the software’s default tools. Then, the indoor acoustic characteristics of various design conditions were obtained from the simulation process undertaken.

By comparing the experimental and simulation results, excellent agreement was observed which verified the feasibility of the software. The original container house experienced an RT distribution of 140-315 ms. After selecting a suitable interior design material, its RT distribution was measured at 160-680 ms.

Following the design process described, spatial designers can assess the indoor acoustic characteristics at the concept design stage and ensure that a decent acoustic comfort environment is derived in their building designs. Meanwhile, such modifications should improve the quality of living for residents of container houses and construction cost reductions might be implemented.

Considering that the historic city of Yazd was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and given the necessity of improving the environmental qualities due to the increased number of domestic and foreign tourists, the concept of acoustic comfort seems to be of considerable importance. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate the role of sound space components affecting acoustic comfort in the historic urban spaces of the City of Yazd and its two historic squares named Khan Square and Fahadan Square.

Accordingly, a total of 632 foreign tourists visiting these squares were asked to enumerate different sounds they could hear in the square and identify their relation with acoustic comfort. In terms of the objectives, this is an applied research using survey and correlation methods. In addition, ANOVA and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

The results of this study indicated that motorcycle and automobile noises were considered as the most important sounds disturbing the acoustic comfort, and sounds of children’s play, water, talking and businesses were the most important factors promoting the acoustic comfort in the historic squares.

The paper highlights the soundscape and acoustic conditions that affect the tourisms in the traditional and tourism square in historical context of Yazd city.

This study explores student sensemaking based on the creation and interpretation of sound on a public school bus, operating as a result of a desegregation settlement. To understand these multimodal literacy practices, the authors examined students’ journeys, sonically as passengers in mobile and adult-constructed space.

As a qualitative study, the authors used ethnographic methods for data collection. Additionally, the authors used a design-based research approach to work alongside students to capture and interpret sound levels on the bus.

Findings from this study illustrate how students used sounds as a means to create community, engage in agentic choices and make meaning of their surroundings. Moreover, students used sound as a way around the pervasive drone of the bus itself.

Research implications from this study speak to the need for research approaches that extend beyond visual observation. Sonic interpretation can offer researchers greater understanding into student learning as they spend time in interstitial spaces.

This manuscript illustrates possibilities that emerge if educators attune to the sounds that shape a learner’s day and the ways in which attention to sonic design can create more equitable spaces that are conducive to students’ learning and literacy needs.

This study demonstrates the use of sound as a means of sensemaking, calling attention to new ways of understanding student experiences in adult-governed spaces.

A novel type of artistic Artificial Life environment is introduced and where evolving agents, who have the ability to make and listen to sound, populate a synthetic world are described. An evolvable, rule‐based system which drives agent behaviour and where agents compete for limited resources in a virtual environment that is influenced by the presence and movement of the artwork's audience is discussed. It is shown that through a link between the real and virtual spaces, virtual agents evolve implicitly and try to maintain the interest of the human audience.

The purpose of this paper is to show how material gathering and elicitation can induce metacognition and metaemotions in interviewees and its usefulness for the study of affective phenomena.

The author will draw on the exploratory study on sound affects conducted with five individuals in Lisbon’s metropolitan area in order to discuss these aspects. After presenting the methodology, the author will address the concepts of metacognition and metaemotion. Afterwards, the author will explain how these occur during the gathering of data by ordinary people and the use of elicitation of materials during interviews.

Metacognitive and metaemotional experiences can be triggered through material gathering and their elicitation during interviews with the purpose of identifying aspects of the everyday experience that are usually unnoticed. Furthermore, they are instrumental to obtain empirical data that illustrates subjects in their everyday lives as simultaneously affective-reactive and reflexive, meaning-making individuals.

The interview has often been disregarded as a method for interpreting affective phenomena. However, the author argue that this method remains very useful to address the distinct interpretations that subjects make of themselves and their emplaced experiences, by calling for attention to the role of metacognition and metaemotions, an instrumental yet unrecognized tool for interpreting affective phenomena.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how sensory stimuli can influence environments, improve the shopper experience and change the nature of behaviour in ways beyond our consciousness.

This paper reviews research gathered over several years and it considers how significant increases in sales can be achieved by attention to shopper “sightlines” and movement through each retail space; how neuro‐imaging is starting to make sense of our reactions to products; how Virtual Reality can save money and how a well‐designed study is a cost‐effective means of ensuring environments are right for shoppers. The latest sensory approaches are also assessed together with thoughts to ponder for the next decade including a word of caution for all to ensure success does not come at the detriment of our planet.

The current economic gloom need not spell financial disaster for the retail sector. Consumers will simply become more discerning as they spend their limited resources. The savvy retailer will invest in understanding shopper needs and motivations to create an enhanced shopping experience by moving beyond simple POP displays and signage, where “minor plus est”, through to shoppers' sense of sound, sight, smell and touch which will have a clear impact on decision‐making, store choice and spend.

This paper will be of interest to all operating in the retail sector.