Exploring the audio-visual interaction in a dental clinic through the restorative environment

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of audio-visual interaction in an indoor acoustic environment. The research focused on the waiting area of a dental clinic. The dental clinic is visited, and binaural audio-video recording is made. After, a listening task is given to the ten participants in three scenarios. Three experiment settings were designed for each scenario. The first experimental group was the control group who had the soundscape of the real environment; the second group, which is the audio group, only had the audial stimuli with the natural sound which is added to the real environment; and the third group, which is the audio-visual group, had both visual stimuli with an image of nature and audial stimuli. A listening task questionnaire and Perceived Restorativeness Soundscape Scale (PRSS) interpretation questionnaire were given to the participants. The results showed that the participants in the third group were found to perceive the indoor soundscape more positively than the other two groups.