It’s end of the line for noisy train station broadcasts

ANNOUNCEMENTS in stations and airports are the bane of a commuter’s life – so loud they give you a headache, but so distorted t hey’re impossible to understand.

One day, however, that particular travel frustration may be a thing of the past – because scientists claim t hey have designed a way to make public announcements not only clearer, but also quieter.

Edinburgh University researchers analysed what we do to make ourselves heard in pubs and other noisy venues.

We do not just speak more loudly, they discovered. We also emphasise key parts of a sentence by slowing down, speeding up or changing the pitch. The listener’s brain fills in the rest.

Using their findings, they developed a computer programme which emphasises the crucial elements of a sentence.

They tested the software by broadcasting hundreds of the

‘Making speech more intelligible’

altered sentences through a public address system. Hundreds of people listened to them – and found the speech easy to understand.

Crucially, the scientists believe the words would be just as clear if the volume was turned down. And, of course, the announcements would be far less annoying.

Researcher Simon King, a professor of speech processing at Edinburgh, said: ‘You’d understand more and it would be less frustrating because of that.’

Co-researcher Dr Cassia Valentini Botinhao said: ‘Noisy environments make it difficult to understand what is being said and simply making speech louder isn’t the smartest solution. ‘Our findings could offer an alternative, by making speech more intelligible without turning up the volume.’

The team presented their findings at a communications conference in Lyon. They now hope to get manufacturers interested in the software.