The importance of binaural hearing for noise valuation

Abstract
In a project that has been funded by the German Ministery of Research and Technology (BMFT) fundamental questions of noise valuation have been addressed by an interdisciplinary research consortium. The aim of the project was to provide knowledge that will lead to a new, binaural and aurally-adequate measurement technique which can especially be used for the valuation of the effects of noise for levels below the legislative limit of 85 dB(A) at workshop places. The investigations have proven that the spatial distribution of sounds has an influence on physiological responses of humans exposed to noise, and that psychoacoustic attributes, e.g., loudness, depend on the direction of sound incidence. In consequence an aurally-adequate measurement technique has to consider binaural processing. A binaural model that could be used for this task is presented.