Institute of Biomedical Engineering (iBME)

Machine listening and auditory cognition

Competences:

  • Application and development of computational models (neural networks and deep learning models) for auditory perception, sound classification and identification.
  • Disentangling auditory attention using single-trial electroencephalography (EEG).
  • Modelling the perceived quality of outdoor soundscapes, based on holistic perceptual indicators, as well as the presence of particular sounds and their associated meaning.
  • Modelling the emergence of noise annoyance due to combined noise sources.
  • Application of models for machine listening and auditory cognition into smart sound meters and acoustic sensor networks.

Research projects:

  • FWO postdoctoral fellowship Bert De Coensel
  • FWO doctoral fellowship Michiel Boes
  • Marie Curie ITN Sonorus
  • FWO ERC Runner-up project MAESTRO
  • UGent BOF DUCK project

Collaborations:

  • Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University
  • Gösta Ekman Laboratory for Sensory Research, Stockholm University, Sweden
  • BRAMS (International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research), University of Montreal, Canada
  • Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Boston University, USA
  • ASAsense

Tools and Valorisation:

ASAsense is a spin-off company of the WAVES lab, that develops and deploys smart sensor network solutions.

Key Publications: 

  • The acoustic summary as a tool for representing urban sound environments (Damiano Oldoni, Bert De Coensel, Annelies Bockstael, Michiel Boes, Bernard De Baets and Dick Botteldooren (2015) LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING. 144. p.34-48)
  • A biologically inspired recurrent neural network for sound source recognition incorporating auditory attention (Michiel Boes, Damiano Oldoni, Bert De Coensel and Dick Botteldooren (2013) Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks. p.596-603)
  • A computational model of auditory attention for use in soundscape research (Damiano Oldoni, Bert De Coensel, Michiel Boes, Michaël Rademaker, Bernard De Baets, Timothy Van Renterghem and Dick Botteldooren (2013) JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 134(1). p.852-861)
  • A model for the perception of environmental sound based on notice-events (Bert De Coensel, Dick Botteldooren, Tom De Muer, Birgitta Berglund, Mats E Nilsson and Peter Lercher (2009) JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 126(2). p.656-665)