Impact of late sound reflections on acoustic conditions in a restaurant integrated in a large shopping mall

The background noise in large shopping malls or atria covered by glass is typically and dominantly generated by the people present. The combination of a large hall volume with the presence of many hard surfaces is responsible for audible late sound reflections. Although the total sound level in shopping malls is not extremely high, background noise can have a substantial impact on acoustic comfort in restaurants integrated in such spaces, and thus on the behavior of their visitors. Our study is based on a number of laboratory perception tests, in which two test persons were exposed to a controlled time varying auralized background restaurant sound in which they were supposed to lead a dialogue. The sound levels of two talking people were monitored and analyzed in terms of their vocal output under different noise conditions and privacy settings.