Audi Gives Silent Electric Car Synthetic Sound 402
itwbennett writes "Audi's electric cars are quiet, maybe too quiet, which is why Audi spent 3 years creating replicated engine noise for its electric car models. We're so conditioned to the noise of an engine revving that a driver behind the wheel of a too-quiet car may not realize how fast he's driving, and a pedestrian relying on auditory clues may be unaware of an approaching vehicle, says Ralf Kunkel, Head of Audi Acoustics." Nissan's been on this for years (as has Honda); one day, you may only get to choose which noise your car makes, rather than whether it does.
any sound in the world.... (Score:5, Insightful)
and they chose car noise. How uninspiring.
Noise needed (Score:3, Insightful)
I was just thinking, of all the things we need more in modern society, what would it be? The answer: NOISE!! Oh yeah. Its just too quiet in our cities.
Re:any sound in the world.... (Score:5, Insightful)
All I want to know is if I can I turn it off? (without breaking some law...)
Re:How cool. (Score:5, Insightful)
I see a huge modding community on the horizon...
It's all fun and game until
Re:any sound in the world.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, exactly. And if there is a law, how can we either circumvent it (no, sorry, that speaker broke just some minutes ago Officer) or get rid of it.
I doubt you would be prosecuted for having "too quiet" a vehicle... that is, until you hit someone with it because they couldn't hear you coming.
That happens, be prepared for a criminal negligence charge.
3 years? seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:To hell with noise pollution (Score:5, Insightful)
Two words: blind people.
Or more elaborately, everyone who can hear uses auditory cues to navigate in addition to other cues. Electric cars are highly unusual in that they make much less noise than their internal combustion engine counterparts. Until silent electric cars are commonplace enough that the public is aware that the normal sensitivity of audition may be insufficient to navigate as a pedestrian, adding sound would seem to be a good idea on the whole. Of course, the flip side is that people who are spending their time buried in their hand-held devices and don't look up when crossing the road are more likely to be weeded from the gene pool by silent cars, and some might consider that a plus. Getting to the point above, though, there are many people -- millions in the US alone -- with low vision or blindnes for whom automobile sounds are critical in warning of impending danger. Adding a modest sound to quiet electric cars definitely seems a good idea for them.
But if you really want to cut down on urban noise pollution, as your post implies, address trucks, buses, and construction crews. Non-electric cars just aren't that loud and motorcycles aren't that frequent. Try to talk on a mobile phone as a truck or bus drives past, though: it's impossible.
Of all the idiotic ideas.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh noes... the car is too quiet! It could sneak up on somebody before they hear it!!!!
Give me a break.
Seriously... this is just such a colossally stupid idea that it had to be dreamed up by lawyers.
In some newer conventional engine cars, you have to strain to listen for the engine, when its on a low speed. Are they going to now require that mufflers not cut out more than certain amount of sound?
And at higher speeds, you're going to hear the sound of the tires on the road LONG before you hear the sound of engine, unless, again, the engine is an older one or the muffler isn't doing it's job correctly.
Are they going to also require that bicycles have such noisemakers installed? What about motorized wheelchairs? Both can cause extremely serious injury to people when moving at high velocities.
This idea is just so incredibly stupid that it gives me a headache just trying to imagine the mentality of people who thought it was a good notion.
Re:Stealth (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How cool. (Score:5, Insightful)
At one time there were laws insisting that anyone driving a "new-fangled horseless carriage" must:
- have someone walk ahead of them waving a red flag or lantern.
- shouting to warn others of the approaching vehicle
- honking a horn or otherwise making noise to "warn" oncoming traffic at any intersection.
The horse and buggy whip cartels also insisted that the automobile would "spook horses" and cause all sorts of problems. As it turned out, of course, the horses didn't give a rat's ass about the cars, they were more likely to spook because some idiot hitched up a mare in heat and some other idiot had an un-gelded stallion on the rein, or because some asshole shot off a gun near them.
The nonsense about electric cars is no different. It's just attempts by the lobbying department of interested automobile makers (the ones who aren't adapting to the 21st century) using bribed republicans and regulatory capture to try to create artificial barriers to adoption against their competition.
The time is not spent on development (Score:5, Insightful)
Rest assured, from the technical side they could do it very quickly, as you outlined.
The problem is more than likely in market research. Bringing people in, asking them to listen to 50 varieties of car noises and judging them, to find just the "right" one that is pleasant, audible, but not overpowering, and most importantly better than any competitors.
Just like software development for consumers, often it's the UX/UI that is very time consuming and nit-picky, not the actual software itself.
I Despise The Whole Idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure, keep them quiet, and a few more people will die every year. Mostly stupid people.
I say it's worth it, for reducing the noise and proven stress levels they cause, which everybody else has to deal with.
Re:Five blind peds are killed by automobiles a yea (Score:4, Insightful)
NHTSA FARS data, 2002-2006: 27 legally blind pedestrians were killed by automobiles. 27/5 == 5.4 per year.
Who cares about facts, won't someone please think about the blind children?
Re:To hell with noise pollution (Score:4, Insightful)
No, it wouldn't seem that way. Why? Because if you add artificial noise people will never become aware of it. It just perpetuates the problem.
Adding noise is exactly the wrong answer. Quiet cars are a nice step forward for those of us who can hear. How about instead we come up with some protocol for a blind person to signal his intent to cross the street? Say, hold out your arm and point to the other side for 10 seconds before crossing. Then train drivers to actually stop for that signal? That would have other benefits as well. Sighted people could use the same signal, making it easier for them to cross busy streets too. And it would protect the blind from those oh-so-silent bicyclists whizzing down the street. (Or maybe bicyclists should adopt some sort of artificial vroom-vroom noise just like cars?)
Simple, free, and peaceful. What more could you want?
Re:3 years? seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
So what sounds do you play (a normal engine whirr or a deep-throated big-block?)? How do you scale that sound with RPMs? How do you ensure the sound you're playing won't be irritating to everyone after a period of time?
Even more important - how do you handle interior vs. exterior sounds? Car makers do NOT make the whole cabin soundproof - they actually do funnel some engine sound into the cabin. Do you play an "idling" sound? Do you consider the inside and outside to be separate sounds? Do you simulate gears (and if so, at what points? and do you base it on speed or RPMs or how the driver is pressing down?). And how does it sound in the rain/snow/sand/dirt?
It's the whole UI thing - that takes far longer to do than the technical steps. Little things like where you put the speaker can have a huge effect - it tane turn a great sound into a muffled annoying rumble. Or the mixing of existing car noise (motor/controller whine, wind noise) may turn the noise into something horrible.
Hell, there are apps for your phone that play back engine noiess, but the whole acoustic package has to be considered.
Drive by wire has several advantages, including reliability, economy (cars are "twist'n'go" these days - the computer does all the necessary adjustments to ensure it can start in the harshest conditions with a simple twist of the key - no accellerator flooring/choke adjusting/etc), emissions, etc. Plus information sharing - the navigation system can do dead reckoning based on wheel motion, speed, the steering wheel position, etc when it loses GPS signal. Nevermind all the safety features that people love, and cruise control.
Liars (Score:4, Insightful)
The article is a lie. Audi didn't do this for safety... they did it because engine noises produce an emotional response. We are conditioned to tie the power of the vehicle to the sound it makes. Audi has a reputation for fast cars, and a silent car does not provide the same emotional feedback, thus reducing the perceived value of the vehicle to the consumer. This is particularly true of the all-important test drive... even if you can disable the sound later, by default they want you to feel the horsepower in your gut when you hit that pedal for the first time.
Re:I take it (Score:5, Insightful)
You've never been in a parking lot with any of these electric cars. Without any engine noise, it's hard enough for a sighted person to tell if a car is going to back up or not. I'd hate to be my blind co-worker.
For many modern cars with internal combustion engines, I hear their wheel noise at low speeds before I hear the engine. Certainly, some of them are quiet enough that I am not confident that I could tell if one was about to back up. Personally, I would prefer less background noise, as it makes it easier for me to pick out sounds that are actually close to me.
Re:I take it (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:any sound in the world.... (Score:5, Insightful)