Noisy open-plan offices full of workers hunched over their desks while wearing noise cancelling headphones could soon be a thing of the past as Australian National University (ANU) researchers seek to create noise-free environments without the use of headphones.
Lead researcher at the ANU, Aimee Zhang (pictured) said researchers had developed a new formula to show how effective noise cancellation technology could be in different spaces.
“Our formula allows us to calculate the best level of cancellation we can achieve in a certain area – for example, an office with a basic desk set-up, windows and doors,” Dr Zhang said.
“This is a way of creating a quieter space, without the need for everyone to keep their headphones on,” she said.
Dr Zhang said that while noise cancelling headphones were generally effective, because the ear had such a small surface area, trying to block out noise in a bigger space was much harder.
“Essentially, you have to set up multiple microphones and speakers to cancel out the original noise source,” she said.
“This is not always practical; we don’t always have sufficient resources to achieve an ideal level of cancellation.”
She said the study provided a way to predict how much noise could be cancelled out before implementing a complex noise cancellation system.
“If we develop this technology further, it could not only be incredibly useful in homes and office spaces, but even in planes and cars,” Dr Zhang said.
