Striking the right note: balancing AVAS in tomorrow's soundscapes

Soundscapes of tomorrow are defined now. Not just a mobile sonic brand signature, the AVAS is also an attention grabber and an imposed alert. The method invoked for its design must be collaborative and involve the brand, designers, marketers, stakeholders, but also drivers, residents and question its position in the soundscape. Defining the aesthetic with a shared semantic, listening, testing, in simulation, on road, with people, with sensors; any sound design should be the result of a collaborative process because it talks to people, improve the perceived quality of products, and improve the quality of life. If well made. Also AVAS sound is also regulated by international standards that are defining boundaries in the selection of the right sound. The signal emitted by the AVAS loudspeaker should follow these rules, in terms of minimum level and spectrum content at specific pedestrians' locations around the car. The simulation of the propagation of the sound from the loudspeaker to these positions in early phase of the design is important to avoid big design mistake. 3D acoustic simulations using FE acoustic software Actran and dedicated post-processing for AVAS are performed to confirm the correct location of loudspeaker and spectral content.