2. Perceptual test methods

It's worth remembering that these tests can have a variety of purposes: to assess the acceptability of a prototype's sound, to compare it with competing models or, more generally, to identify the sound dimensions (i.e. aspects of timbre) involved in the perception of noise produced by a particular type of object.

A large number of methods are available, some of which have their origins in more fundamental research in psychophysics (see a useful introduction in [5] ). The complexity of their implementation, as well as the results they can deliver, can vary widely. We will mention just a few of these methods:

• estimate of size ;

• absolute valuation ;

• semantic differentials ;

...