Beating noise pollution with smart tech

Image source, Sue Pearl

Sue and David wake up grumpy.

Sue says that her husband snores so loudly that the whole house shakes.

David, a 65-year-old solicitor from London, has tried a lot of things to cure the problem, from sprays and sprays, to strips, and even an electric bracelet that gave him a mild electric shock.

His ears, nose and throat doctor is at a loss as to why nothing has worked.

Sue, who is a voice-over artist, says she will send him to the spare room if she is woken up. It is exhausting to live with a snorer, neither of us sleep well, it really isn't great for any relationship.

Quality of life can be affected by the sound of a snoring partner. noise pollution can have a negative impact on your mental health, from living near a busy road to neighbours playing loud music.

The European Environmental Agency says excessive noise is killing people. 12,000 premature deaths are caused by long-term exposure in the European Union.

The World Health Organization says that noise pollution is an underestimated threat that can cause a number of short and long-term health problems.

Image source, Getty Images

Good old ear plugs and noise-cancelling headphones aren't the only ways to drown out increased unwanted sound.

Silentium, an Israeli business, claims that its Quiet Bubble system can reduce unwanted sound even if it is coming from a husband in bed.

The technology is based on a microphone. The speaker emits a noise that cancels out the unwanted sound and the microphone listens to it.

The speaker releases the same sound waves, but in the opposite phase, or back to front, for readers that want a more technical explanation. This causes interference, canceling out a lot of the sounds.

Image source, Natalie Lisbona

The technology of active noise cancelation has existed in headphones for a long time, but companies like Silentium have developed the technology to work without having to put a pair of cans over your ears.

You can fit our speaker and sensors to your bed, and the sound of your partner's snoring would be reduced as it generated anti-noise.

He says that the technology could be used in cars.

The company says its technology can create individual sound zones, where the sound from an array of speakers is focused on a specific area of space, and not outside of that zone or bubble. The idea is that someone can listen to music or watch a film without headphones, but still not bother people sitting nearby.

Mr Naor has two chairs side by side in his laboratory to demonstrate how sound can be projected. Depending on which seat you sit in, you can hear different songs being played. You can't hear the other tune.

Silentium is working with Jaguar Land Rover, and hopes to work with other car firms, as well as trains and airlines.

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You want other people to hear a noise when a vehicle is reversing. You want people close to the vehicle to hear the sound, not the surrounding neighbourhood.

The alarms are only audible to pedestrians and others in close proximity. They work by emitting sounds after 10 metres.

White noise can be heard clearly in the danger area, even when wearing ear defenders, but it doesn't wake up the entire neighbourhood.

She says that the firm's speaker releases "gentle" multi-frequency sounds, rather than the "painful" narrowband frequencies that carry through the air for much longer distances.

Its systems have been used in everything from airport buggies to supermarket delivery vehicles.

Quiet Mark is a global certification programme that awards everything from consumer products to building specifications, hotels, shops, and transport companies for their low noise levels.

Image source, Poppy Szkiler

She says that a quiet revolution is taking place, with the need to reduce unnecessary noise having been shot to the top of priority lists over the past two years.

She says that the noise in cities fell because of the coronaviruses, and that the work from home movement brought an awareness to the impact of sound.

Quiet Mark was established a decade ago by Ms Szkiler, but her family has been dealing with excess noise for three generations.

John Connell founded the Noise Abatement Society back in 1959 and it has been campaigning against noise pollution for 63 years.

The 1960 Noise Abatement Act was pushed through the UK parliament by his lobbying. For the first time, it recognised noise as a potential nuisance.

Image source, Noise Abatement Society

Talya Ressel works with people with high sensitivity to noise. She helps people deal with the challenges of misophonia, a condition in which certain noises can cause a negative emotional response.

She says that we are bombarded by more sounds than ever before.

If noise-cancelling headphones and white noise are not an option, you need an active plan to manage the situation. Ignoring the issue does not mean that your body is not reacting.

Try to find a few minutes every day where you sit in active silence. It will give you a chance to reset after being bombarded by sounds all day.