A Fuzzy Rule-Based Engine to Predict Noise Annoyance

Noise annoyance can result from interference with daily activities, feelings, thoughts, sleep, or rest, and may be accompanied by negative emotional responses, such as irritability, distress, exhaustion, a wish to escape the noise, and other stress-related symptoms. Hence, the main aim of the current study is to provide an expert system using the fuzzy approach to determine the effects of noise environment on annoyance. Speech annoyance is considered to be a function of noise levels, exposure duration, the noise level in habitat, and age. It is implemented on fuzzy logic employing the Mamdani techniques. The results are found to be annoyance reactions in old are stronger than in young relative to the noise exposure. Annoyance reactions can be somewhat stronger due to the combined effects of the noise level in habitat, noise level, and age. The study showed that the noise level should not exceed 75 dB(A) for ‘young’ and ‘middle-aged’ and 64 dB(A) for ‘old’ persons.