In the middle of the exciting implementation phase of the project, the BaLSaM team was represented with three contributions at this year's DAGA, which took place together with the DAS in Copenhagen. The project partners ika, IHTA and HEAD acoustics presented current research results and offered exciting insights into their work as part of the project.

The first overall project meeting of the new year took place at the premises of our partner RHA in Aachen. In addition to the current status of the project work, the focus was also on preparations for this year's DAGA. We are particularly pleased that our partners IHTA, HEAD acoustics and the ika will be represented there - at the DAS|DAGA in Copenhagen. We are looking forward to the scientific exchange on site!

The entire project team came together for the last time in 2024 at our partner IHTA in Aachen - in glorious autumn weather. The meeting focused on the current status of the research questions as well as concrete next steps in order to be able to provide well-founded answers by the end of the project in a year's time. A productive exchange with a clear focus on the common goal!

On Tuesday and Thursday, IHTA and HEAD acoustics gave presentations at Inter-Noise.

IHTA's presentation titled "Validation measurement of vehicle pass-by models for dynamic urban environments" dealt with a method for the validation of traffic noise simulations through measurements in a hemi-anechoic chamber in order to provide a better understanding of the effects of urban structures. This method includes challenges and approaches for the precise detection and auralisation of traffic noise in urban contexts with a special focus on interactions between sound, buildings, and walls.

HEAD's presentation entitled "Physiological responses to soundscape recordings in a laboratory experiment" dealt with the soundscape approach, a holistic method for evaluating acoustic environments. This approach can be extended by physiological measurements in order to include the physical response of the listener in the evaluation. In order to be able to design VR experiments with physiological measurements in the future, this study initially used purely acoustic stimuli to investigate which deviations in different traffic scenarios actually cause differences in physical reactions.