Hurst, W, El Rhalibi, A and Tully, D (2015) Predicting and Visualising City Noise Levels to Support Tinnitus Sufferers. In: Lectures Notes in Computer Science , 9219. pp. 583-598. (8th International Conference on Image and Graphics, 13 August 2015 - 16 August 2015, Tianjin, China).

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Abstract

On a daily basis, urban residents are unconsciously exposed to hazardous noise levels. This has a detrimental effect on the ear-drum, with symptoms often not apparent till later in life. The impact of harmful noises levels has a damaging impact on wellbeing. It is estimated that 10 million people suffer from damaged hearing in the UK alone, with 6.4million of retirement age or above. With this number expected to increase significantly by 2031, the demand and cost for healthcare providers is expected to intensify. Tinnitus affects about 10 percent of the UK population, with the condition ranging from mild to severe. The effects can have psychological impact on the patient. Often communication becomes difficult, and the sufferer may also be unable to use a hearing aid due to buzzing, ringing or monotonous sounds in the ear. Action on Hearing Loss states that sufferers of hearing related illnesses are more likely to withdraw from social activities. Tinnitus sufferers are known to avoid noisy environments and busy urban areas, as exposure to excessive noise levels exacerbates the symptoms. In this paper, an approach for evaluating and predicting urban noise levels is put forward. The system performs a data classification process to identify and predict harmful noise areas at diverse periods. The goal is to provide Tinnitus sufferers with a real-time tool, which can be used as a guide to find quieter routes to work; identify harmful areas to avoid or predict when noise levels on certain roads will be dangerous to the ear-drum. Our system also performs a visualisation function, which overlays real-time noise levels onto an interactive 3D map.

Keywords: Hazardous Noise Levels, Data Classification, Tinnitus, Visualisation, Hearing Loss, Prediction, Real-Time

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21969-1_53
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Computer software R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Divisions:	Computer Science & Mathematics
Publisher:	Springer Verlag
Date Deposited:	12 Jun 2015 11:52
Last Modified:	13 Apr 2022 15:13
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/1353

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