Parameterizing Sound: Design Considerations for an Environmental Sound Database

: This report describes the work underway in establishing a database of environmental sounds for research at the US Army Research Laboratory. This report reviews the current status of research on environmental sound perception as well as the challenges associated with characterizing such a broad stimulus class. One of the goals of this report is to establish what properties of environmental sounds are important to document for the purposes of a database. We end this discussion by providing a path forward for implementing the criteria highlighted here. The current document provides a summary of high-impact research on environmental sound perception as well as documentation on the sound source acquisition process. A list of environmental sounds used in previous research is included with this report, and many of the sound files are available by request.