Abstract
Experiments are being conducted in the House of Lords, in which the House of Commons sits while the Lower Chamber is being rebuilt after destruction during the War, to improve the audibility of members. Comprehension of a speaker's words is low because the first major reflextion, on which reliance is placed by auditors, especially in the rear of a speaker, is scattered by the extensive wooden carving; moreover, the roof is too high to afford any useful reflexions. The acoustic problem is complicated by the premise that any speaker may jump up and address remarks, theoretically to the chair, but often elsewhere. Permission from the authorities has been obtained to install, as an experiment, three hollow tubes acting as hand-rails, one on each side of the House behind the Treasury and Opposition benches, the third in front of the Hansard and some Press reporters just over the Speaker's chair. Each tube is driven by a horn loudspeaker electro-dynamic driving-unit at one end, the other end having an acoustic termination to obviate reflexions. Along the pipe are small holes, so that reproduced sound from the existing system of microphones is emitted just below a member's ear, or in front of a reporter. It is unlikely that a considerable increase in general audibility can be obtained by any means; but the Jipe scheme for low-level individual sound augmentation certainly helps the audition of poor speakers, and is of considerable help when the noise-level increases. In particular, the Press are much more certain of getting the remarks of the Speaker. Present trials will indicate whether the pipe system can be extended with advantage, and possibly incorporated in the new Lower Chamber.
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Audibility of Members of Parliament. Nature 160, 185 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160185a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160185a0