Mitigating the adverse effects of urban environmental stress on individuals through piano performance with a natural theme: a case study from biophilia to soundscape healing

Urban traffic-related air pollution and noise not only exert direct adverse effects on human health but also influence how individuals perceive and respond to these environmental stressors. The low-intervention strategies (e.g., outdoor music) have attracted increasing attention for their potential to alleviate physiological responses and discomfort induced by traffic-emitted pollution. The present study focuses on the mitigating effects of outdoor piano performance on the physiological responses of individuals exposed to traffic-related air pollution and noise. Field measurements are conducted in an outdoor cafe area located within a pedestrian street adjacent to a traffic roadway. Physical and physiological parameters are recorded over two comparative test days (with and without piano performance), and a subjective questionnaire survey is also administered. A total of 15 volunteers were initially recruited for the study. These participants were healthy male adults aged between 25 and 30 years, with heights ranging from 165 cm to 175 cm, and without any major medical conditions. The measured results indicate that the road traffic induced air pollution and noise have obviously affect physiological reactions of human, and the relative HR/SCL indexes increase with air pollutant concentrations (NO2/PM10) and noise level. The presence of outdoor piano performance is capable of mitigating physiological reactions caused by traffic emission, and the relative HR/SCL indexes can be reduced up to 50%. Traffic noise is clearly perceived by all volunteers and elicited varying degrees of dissatisfaction. The relevant statistical significance tests were conducted to compare the conditions with and without piano performance. Significant inter-departmental differences were found in HR/SCL indexes (Wilcoxon rank-sum test) for the scenarios with and without piano performance. These results indicate that outdoor piano performance significantly influences human physiological responses and can effectively mitigate the adverse effects of traffic noise and air pollution on occupants.