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HERO ID
7696998
Reference Type
Journal Article
Title
How much COVID-19 face protections influence speech intelligibility in classrooms?
Author(s)
Caniato, M; Marzi, A; Gasparella, A; ,
Year
2021
Is Peer Reviewed?
Yes
Journal
Applied Acoustics
ISSN:
0003-682X
Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Location
OXFORD
Page Numbers
108051
DOI
10.1016/j.apacoust.2021.108051
Web of Science Id
WOS:000640183600061
URL
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003682X21001444
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Abstract
The ongoing pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus is challenging many aspects of daily life. Several personal protective devices have become essential in our lives. Face protections are mostly used in order to stop the air aerosol coming out of our mouths. Nevertheless, this fact may also have a negative effect on speech transmission both in outdoor and indoor spaces. After a severe lockdown, classes have now started again. The adoption of face protection by teachers is either recommended or mandatory even though this is affecting speech intelligibility and thus students' comprehension. This study aims to understand how protections may affect the speech transmission in classrooms and how this could be influenced by the several typologies of face protections. An experimental campaign was conducted in a classroom in two different reverberant conditions, measuring and comparing the variation in speech transmission and sound pressure level at different receiver positions. Furthermore, a microphone array was used to investigate the distribution of the indoor sound field, depending on the sound source. Results clearly show how different types of personal protection equipment do affect speech transmission and sound pressure level especially at mid-high frequency and that the source emission lobes vary when wearing certain types of personal devices. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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