An auralisation makes it possible to hear how planned outdoor sound sources such as roads or wind turbines will sound or generate noise in different landscapes—before they are built.
There is a certain analogy to the concept of visualisation, which is widely used in EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) analyses and in other planning work. After all, who would build a new super hospital or motorway without being able to visualise it before construction begins? Planners want an impression of how a new building or facility will look when it is built. More specifically, to visualise means "to create an image of"; "to turn into something visible." Analogously, auralisation can be defined as "to create a sound image of"; "to turn into something audible."
An auralisation is not quite the same as a sound demonstration. The difference between sound demonstrations and auralisations can be described as follows:
- A sound demonstration aims to show how something typically sounds, or how it sounds in a very specific place. Sound demonstrations generally involve minor and perhaps only conceptual modifications to the original sound recordings.
- An auralisation aims to create a realistic acoustic impression of a future or hypothetical structure at a well-specified listening position. Auralisations often involve significant and precise modifications of the original recordings.
The difference between a sound demonstration and an auralisation, therefore, is that an auralisation involves a significant and accurate modification of a recorded sound, which means that the requirements for precision are very high if the auralisation is to be considered highly credible.
