SleepSound: Charting the Nighttime Soundscape and Sleep Quality in Hong Kong through Machine Listening and AI-supported Information Design

PerMagnus Lindborg; Sara Lenzi; Shirley Xin  Li; Xiao Li

doi:10.5281/zenodo.15032831

SleepSound: Charting the Nighttime Soundscape and Sleep Quality in Hong Kong through Machine Listening and AI-supported Information Design

PerMagnus Lindborg
, Sara Lenzi
, Shirley Xin Li
, Xiao Li

School of Creative Media

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

84 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Sleep is an essential part of health. One factor that affects sleep quality is soundscape, the acoustic environment as perceived. In the SleepSound project, we aim to collect field data and harness machine listening for an AI-supported assessment of soundscape quality for healthy sleep. Why is this important? Our initial literature review reveals that there is little known about Hong Kong’s domestic acoustic environment and practically no research has been published on people’s perception of their own nighttime soundscape, or how it may affect sleep. A case in point is the Noise Control Ordinance (1989), which regulates noise from e.g. construction sites but leaves much of neighbourhood environments open to interpretation. Without a deeper understanding of soundscape, solving inevitable conflicts might be left to arbitrary judgements. Given this situation, our project aims to develop methods to chart the nighttime soundscape and its impact on sleep. Restorative sleep is important for everyone and crucial for vulnerable individuals e.g. with a medical condition. The present research project builds on our recent study in a nighttime hospital ward, where patients wore sleep trackers to detect disturbances, and soundscape audio was captured. SleepSound will venture further by focusing on the context of domestic bedrooms for normally healthy residents in Hong Kong.

© 2025 Lindborg et al.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data (SoniHED 2025)
Editors	Sandra Pauletto
Publisher	Zenodo
Pages	30-37
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Electronic)	978-91-8106-119-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15032831
Publication status	Published - 29 Jan 2025
Event	3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data - KTH Royal institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden Duration: 29 Jan 2025 → 29 Jan 2025 https://soundforenergy.net/sonihed2025

Conference

Conference	3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data
Abbreviated title	SoniHED 2025
Place	Sweden
City	Stockholm
Period	29/01/25 → 29/01/25
Internet address	https://soundforenergy.net/sonihed2025

Bibliographical note

Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.

Funding

Strategic Research Grant 7006116, City University of Hong Kong

Research Keywords

soundscape
sleep
Hong Kong
machine learning
modeling
information design

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY 3.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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10.5281/zenodo.15032831

267096579.pdfFinal Published version, 1.52 MBLicence: CC BY

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1 RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)
1 RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SoundSafe: Towards an Integrated Assessment of Soundscape Quality in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Lindborg, P., Lenzi, S. & de las Cuevas, M. I., 11 Jun 2026, (Accepted/In press/Filed) Proceedings of the 12th Convention of the European Acoustics Association Forum Acusticum 2026. Graz, Austria, 6 p.
Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review
Perceived Quality of a Nighttime Hospital Soundscape
Lenzi, S., Lindborg, P., Spagnol, S., Kamphuis, D. & Özcan, E., 2024, In: Noise Mapping. 11, 1, 20240010.
Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Open Access
File
4 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)

32 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

1 Talk/lecture

SoundSafe: Plataforma integrada para la evaluación de la calidad acústica en cuidados intensivos neonatales
Lindborg, P. M. (Speaker) & Lenzi, S. (Speaker)
11 Mar 2026
Activity: Talk/lecture or presentation › Talk/lecture

File

Cite this

Lindborg, P., Lenzi, S., Li, S. X., & Li, X. (2025). SleepSound: Charting the Nighttime Soundscape and Sleep Quality in Hong Kong through Machine Listening and AI-supported Information Design. In S. Pauletto (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data (SoniHED 2025) (pp. 30-37). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15032831

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title = "SleepSound: Charting the Nighttime Soundscape and Sleep Quality in Hong Kong through Machine Listening and AI-supported Information Design",

abstract = "Sleep is an essential part of health. One factor that affects sleep quality is soundscape, the acoustic environment as perceived. In the SleepSound project, we aim to collect field data and harness machine listening for an AI-supported assessment of soundscape quality for healthy sleep. Why is this important? Our initial literature review reveals that there is little known about Hong Kong{\textquoteright}s domestic acoustic environment and practically no research has been published on people{\textquoteright}s perception of their own nighttime soundscape, or how it may affect sleep. A case in point is the Noise Control Ordinance (1989), which regulates noise from e.g. construction sites but leaves much of neighbourhood environments open to interpretation. Without a deeper understanding of soundscape, solving inevitable conflicts might be left to arbitrary judgements. Given this situation, our project aims to develop methods to chart the nighttime soundscape and its impact on sleep. Restorative sleep is important for everyone and crucial for vulnerable individuals e.g. with a medical condition. The present research project builds on our recent study in a nighttime hospital ward, where patients wore sleep trackers to detect disturbances, and soundscape audio was captured. SleepSound will venture further by focusing on the context of domestic bedrooms for normally healthy residents in Hong Kong. {\textcopyright} 2025 Lindborg et al. ",

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Lindborg, P, Lenzi, S, Li, SX & Li, X 2025, SleepSound: Charting the Nighttime Soundscape and Sleep Quality in Hong Kong through Machine Listening and AI-supported Information Design. in S Pauletto (ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data (SoniHED 2025). Zenodo, pp. 30-37, 3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data, Stockholm, Sweden, 29/01/25. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15032831

SleepSound: Charting the Nighttime Soundscape and Sleep Quality in Hong Kong through Machine Listening and AI-supported Information Design. / Lindborg, PerMagnus; Lenzi, Sara; Li, Shirley Xin et al.
Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data (SoniHED 2025). ed. / Sandra Pauletto. Zenodo, 2025. p. 30-37.

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - SleepSound

T2 - 3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data

AU - Lindborg, PerMagnus

AU - Lenzi, Sara

AU - Li, Shirley Xin

AU - Li, Xiao

N1 - Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.

PY - 2025/1/29

Y1 - 2025/1/29

N2 - Sleep is an essential part of health. One factor that affects sleep quality is soundscape, the acoustic environment as perceived. In the SleepSound project, we aim to collect field data and harness machine listening for an AI-supported assessment of soundscape quality for healthy sleep. Why is this important? Our initial literature review reveals that there is little known about Hong Kong’s domestic acoustic environment and practically no research has been published on people’s perception of their own nighttime soundscape, or how it may affect sleep. A case in point is the Noise Control Ordinance (1989), which regulates noise from e.g. construction sites but leaves much of neighbourhood environments open to interpretation. Without a deeper understanding of soundscape, solving inevitable conflicts might be left to arbitrary judgements. Given this situation, our project aims to develop methods to chart the nighttime soundscape and its impact on sleep. Restorative sleep is important for everyone and crucial for vulnerable individuals e.g. with a medical condition. The present research project builds on our recent study in a nighttime hospital ward, where patients wore sleep trackers to detect disturbances, and soundscape audio was captured. SleepSound will venture further by focusing on the context of domestic bedrooms for normally healthy residents in Hong Kong. © 2025 Lindborg et al.

AB - Sleep is an essential part of health. One factor that affects sleep quality is soundscape, the acoustic environment as perceived. In the SleepSound project, we aim to collect field data and harness machine listening for an AI-supported assessment of soundscape quality for healthy sleep. Why is this important? Our initial literature review reveals that there is little known about Hong Kong’s domestic acoustic environment and practically no research has been published on people’s perception of their own nighttime soundscape, or how it may affect sleep. A case in point is the Noise Control Ordinance (1989), which regulates noise from e.g. construction sites but leaves much of neighbourhood environments open to interpretation. Without a deeper understanding of soundscape, solving inevitable conflicts might be left to arbitrary judgements. Given this situation, our project aims to develop methods to chart the nighttime soundscape and its impact on sleep. Restorative sleep is important for everyone and crucial for vulnerable individuals e.g. with a medical condition. The present research project builds on our recent study in a nighttime hospital ward, where patients wore sleep trackers to detect disturbances, and soundscape audio was captured. SleepSound will venture further by focusing on the context of domestic bedrooms for normally healthy residents in Hong Kong. © 2025 Lindborg et al.

KW - soundscape

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KW - Hong Kong

KW - machine learning

KW - modeling

KW - information design

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M3 - RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)

SP - 30

EP - 37

BT - Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Sonification of Health and Environmental Data (SoniHED 2025)

A2 - Pauletto, Sandra

PB - Zenodo

Y2 - 29 January 2025 through 29 January 2025

ER -

SleepSound: Charting the Nighttime Soundscape and Sleep Quality in Hong Kong through Machine Listening and AI-supported Information Design

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

Funding

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Fingerprint

Research output

SoundSafe: Towards an Integrated Assessment of Soundscape Quality in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Perceived Quality of a Nighttime Hospital Soundscape

Activities

SoundSafe: Plataforma integrada para la evaluación de la calidad acústica en cuidados intensivos neonatales

Cite this