Soundscape affects perceived visual landscape quality

Recent soundscape studies on audio–visual interactions have primarily focused on how visual landscapes influence soundscape assessment. In contrast, the reverse relationship—how soundscape affects visual perception—has received less attention, particularly regarding its impact on specific visual dimensions. This study addresses this gap by exploring whether visual landscapes are perceived differently depending on the soundscape. Building upon Tveit's visual quality framework, we developed seven descriptors to assess participants' visual perceptions. Two soundwalks were conducted with 118 participants in residential precincts of Singapore. Sound and visual environments were assessed using acoustic recordings and 360° photo segmentation. Our results show that acoustical factors and soundscape composition significantly influenced visual landscape assessment. Mask durations of biological and geological sounds positively affected overall visual evaluation, while mechanical sound mask duration, LCeq, and sharpness had negative effects. Moreover, soundscape also influenced perceptions of specific visual qualities. Mask durations of biological, geological, and mechanical sounds, as well as sharpness, LCeq, significantly influenced how people perceived the visual landscape as natural, harmonious, or disturbing. This study highlights the bidirectional relationship between soundscape and visual landscape perception, emphasizing the role of multisensory perception in shaping specific dimensions of visual landscape assessment.