Towards a Virtual Soundwalk

This chapter, published in the Handbook of Research on Perception Driven Approaches to Urban Assessment and Design, presents the debate on the conceptual framework for the virtual soundwalk as a tool for soundscape assessment for use within urban design tasks and the management of urban open spaces. A hybrid model between a soundwalk in situ and a listening test in laboratory conditions is needed to gain benefits from both methods by simulating links between spatial relations and soundscape changes in actual urban open spaces. This link is vital due to the widely accepted architectural theory background on the urban open space experience. A prototype of a virtual soundwalk tool is described. It was used by the authors during laboratory research conducted in 2014 and 2015 and developed further in 2017. The prototype was based on partial virtual reality reconstruction of visual and aural field recordings. Its potential use is illustrated using a case study of the waterfront promenade in the historical centre of Zadar, Croatia. The future prospects for the method described are debated according to the most recent developments within the field of soundscape research.