Physical effects of children's indoor shoes on floor-impact sound in apartment and psychological effects of sound produced

摘要

This study aimed to examine the effects of shoes worn by children indoors on the floor-impact sound caused by jumping and walking and to determine whether they reduced the sound level. Four types of indoor shoes were produced and tested by making children with ages of less than nine jump and run indoors while wearing them. It was found that some of the shoes could reduce the sound by as much as 9 dB compared to that in the case when the children jumped without wearing shoes. The tests were performed both in the laboratory and in an apartment that was built in 1998 and has issues related to the floor-impact noise. Based on the results, it can be concluded that making lifestyle changes, such as wearing indoor shoes, can help reduce the floor-impact sound in apartments. Therefore, this strategy should be adopted along with other methods for reducing indoor floor-impact sound.