An active unpleasantness control system for indoor noise based on auditory masking

Noise reduction methods have been proposed for various large noises. However, we often perceive unpleasant feeling even if the small noise arises in quiet indoor environments. To overcome this problem, we focus on auditory masking which is phenomenon that human can´t hear a target noise by composite sound. In this paper, we propose the unpleasantness reduction method based on auditory masking for indoor noise. In the proposed method, we discuss how to design the artificial sound for noise control. Furthermore, we develop an active unpleasantness reduction system based on the proposed method. As a result of evaluation experiments, we could confirm the effectiveness of the development system.