Introduced in April 2023 the renewed room acoustic standard SS 25268:2023 [1] for the Swedish market is now less than a year old. The background and purpose of the standard is, among other things, to supplement the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning’s building regulations and other governing documents and to facilitate planning […]
room acoustics
Robotic surgery – precise but noisy
Operating rooms for robotic surgery require sound absorption for lowered sound levels and improved speech intelligibility. Introduction Operating rooms (OR) in hospitals are supposed to be quiet, controlled spaces that allow doctors and nurses to focus on performing complex surgeries. Unfortunately, the reality is often very different. Noise from medical equipment, combined with poor room […]
A major survey in France : Noise in Bars & Restaurants
At EIAS 2023 a poster session was presented and lots of great studies were shared. Studies from Education, Healthcare and Office segments were covered at the same time as studies about sound environments in restaurants and bars. A poster including a survey from France revealed that restaurant owners risk lower income because of noise. The […]
Hungary’s Journey Towards Standardization in Room Acoustics: An Interview with Csaba Huszty
Standardization in Room Acoustics Room acoustics and electroacoustic systems are critical components of building design that can impact the quality of sound and speech intelligibility in various environments, from concert halls to classrooms and offices. In Hungary, the journey towards standardization in this area began over a century ago, but it wasn’t until 2020 that […]
Background noise in classrooms: How it affects performance (EIAS 2023)
EIAS 2023: Chiara Visentin, senior researcher at Eurah Research in Italy, held an interesting presentation at the recent EIAS2023. It was about the topic of background noise in classrooms, and how this affects the pupils’ task performance. Even though a classroom meets the minimum acoustic requirements, there is no guarantee that the room is an […]
The Influence of Acoustics on People featuring Neurodisorders
Dr Marco Caniato – Free University of Bozen in Italy presented this paper at EIAS2023. The influence of acoustics on people featuring neurodisorders. State-of-the-art and new perspectives As recently by the World Health Organisation, the percentage of people in the world suffering from neurodisorders, neurocognitive or neurodevelopmental disorder (as referred and described in the Diagnostic […]
Acoustics and Air Quality – The Impact on Student Concentration and Fatigue
At EIAS 2023, findings from the former ISF (institute for interdisciplinary school research) and Gerhart Tiesler were presented by Rainer Machner. The research was initiated in 2005 by public discussion of air quality in offices and schools. One pattern for the research we found in “Handbuch der Schulhygiene” (handbook of hygiene in schools), 2nd edition […]
The large Epidauros Theatre – how did it sound with an audience and skene?
For practical reasons, most measurements of acoustics in ancient Greek theatres are made without an audience. Under those conditions much of the sound reaching the listener is in the form of reflections from the curved stone risers that form the seating. These reflections would be attenuated or eliminated by the audience. Let´s explore the Epidauros […]
Listening tests: linking objective room acoustic parameters with subjective human perception
Daniel de la Prida from Carlos III University in Madrid presented about his study into listening tests. He focussed on tests that can be used for linking objective room acoustic parameters with subjective human perception. Such tests have been in use for many years. However, different research usually employs different test protocols, with different operational […]
Acoustic metrics for innovative learning environments
Acoustics included as part of a major education research project Amanda Robinson has been a key researcher gathering acoustic metrics for innovative learning environments and she presented the findings at EIAS2023 this year. Traditional acoustic parameters are often used to describe the environment within learning environments. These include metrics such as ambient sound levels, reverberation […]
