Suggestive Sound Design Based on Virtual Gears 2020-01-1543

With the electrification of vehicles, new questions and problems are rising in the field of NVH. The in-cabin noise was reduced significantly due to the new drive system. Additionally, the spectral composition of this noise changed dramatically. While the reduction of the in-cabin sound pressure levels is generally welcomed by customers and engineers alike, the predominantly high-pitched tonal sounds of the electrical drives are normally perceived with less enthusiasm. Active sound design can help both in masking those noises, or at the least embed them in new harmonic contexts so their annoyance can be reduced. A variety of research in the field of traffic psychology shows that acoustical feedback can alter the driving behavior. Based on this, our idea is, that if certain sounds induce specific reactions in drivers, a specifically designed active sound design could be used to influence said behavior. We aim to make the changes in the sound sufficiently subtle, so that the influencing only happens on a suggestive level, hence the name suggestive sound design. To investigate the potentials, and enable the development of a suggestive sound design, we created an interface between an electrical vehicle and a sound generator. With the sound generator we developed a sound that is based on the behavior of a dual clutch transmission. With this sound we want to further investigate the suggestivity - the ability to influence the driving behavior - of an active sound design and its potentials to improve traffic safety. The paper will focus on the definition of a suggestive sound design and how a particular manifestation based on virtual gears could be implemented. We discuss the current state of research and the development of a sound generator needed for further investigating a suggestive sound design. In the end we give an outlook on the planned experiments based on that sound generator.