Sound of Public announcement system can be minimised.

End of the line for annoying announcements on trains as scientists discover that quieter messages can be just easy to understand

• Scientists analysed how we make ourselves understood in noisy places
• We emphasise key parts of sentences rather than just speaking loudly
• Findings could allow authorities to improve public announcements

By Fiona Macrae
  9 September 2013

Announcements at stations and airports are the bane of a commuter’s life – so loud that they give you a headache, but so distorted they’re impossible to understand.
One day, however, that particular travel frustration may be a thing of the past. Because scientists claim they have designed a way to make public announcements not only clearer, but also quieter.
Edinburgh University researchers analysed what we do to make ourselves heard in pubs and other noisy venues.
We do not just speak more loudly, they discovered. We also emphasise key parts of a sentence by slowing down, speeding up or changing the pitch. The listener’s brain fills in the rest.

Relief: Scientists' finding could make public announcements in places such as train stations less annoying

Using their findings, they developed a computer programme which emphasises the crucial elements of a sentence.
They tested the software by broadcasting hundreds of the altered sentences through a public address system. Hundreds of people listened to them – and found the speech easy to understand.

 

Crucially, the scientists believe the words would be just as clear if the volume was turned down. And, of course, the announcements would be far less annoying.

Help: The findings would also benefit users of artificial voiceboxes like Stephen Hawking

Researcher Simon King, a professor of speech processing at Edinburgh, said: ‘You’d understand more and it would be less frustrating because of that.’
Co-researcher Dr Cassia Valentini Botinhao said: ‘Noisy environments make it difficult to understand what is being said and simply making speech louder isn’t the smartest solution.
‘Our findings could offer an alternative, by making speech more intelligible without turning up the volume.’
The team presented their findings at a communication conference in Lyon. They now hope to get manufacturers interested in the software.
They said it could be used in conference calls, as well as in public announcement systems.
It could also be used to improve the clarity of the computerised speech in the device used by physicist Stephen Hawking, for example.
Scientists at Edinburgh have previously investigated problems in the voice- recognition systems used for booking tickets, finding out cinema times and making credit card payments over the telephone.
A study of more than 100 conversations revealed why the computer so often misunderstands what the caller says.
Problems include hesitations, similar sounding words and shouting.
Speaking extra slowly is also of little help, as the software is not designed to recognise exaggerated speech.