Acoustic Comfort for Spaces Used by People with Cognitive Impairment: A Starting Point for the Application of Acoustic Event Detection and Sound Source Recognition Systems

The AED (Acoustic Event Detection) and SSR (Sound Source Recognition) systems are increasingly used in projects involving home automation, security, help for the visually impaired or for the elderly who want to pursue projects of independent living. The application of such technologies can also become a valid reference in the case of subjects suffering from cognitive, not just physical, deficits (Down syndrome, autism, etc.). In these cases remote assistance systems can represent a strong support both for the people who take care of them (parents, specialized personnel), and also for people with cognitive disabilities to pursue projects of independent living. Based on the study of the peculiarities that the internal spaces hosting activities for people with various cognitive deficits must have, criteria for acoustic comfort and internal design have been optimized for certain types of living, working and resting spaces. The aim of this work is to understand how the indoor sound field of dedicated rooms may affect boundary conditions for the installation of AED and SSR and how the specific interior design for special spaces may influence the speech intelligibility and clarity of these rooms.