Enhancing museum experiences: Using immersive environments to evaluate soundscape preferences

Research on indoor soundscapes is an emerging topic that aims to create more comfortable and supportive environments based on occupant perceptions and preferences. However, this topic remains under-explored in museum environments. This research addresses this gap by investigating soundscape preferences and their impact on the museum experience. The hypothesis is that soundscapes composed of sounds congruent with the exhibitions' context are more effective in reducing distractions, enhancing engagement, and creating a more immersive experience. Audiovisual experiments were conducted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute using a panoramic screen system. The 360° screen, combined with an 8-channel loudspeaker array, featured panoramic photos combined with different soundscapes from 16 exhibitions in 5 museums, including the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the New York State Museum. Participants experienced four soundscape scenarios: one with an on-site recorded soundscape, two combining this recording with either a conventional or congruent sound masker, and one featuring "no added sound." While immersed in these scenarios, 23 participants completed a questionnaire using a developed controller to interact directly with the experiment through a wireless device. The statistically significant results supported the hypothesis and showed that in 58% of cases, participants preferred the exhibition-congruent soundscapes over the other three tested scenarios.