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Speakers bring quiet to city living - 18th September 2020

A new invention from Singapore-based researchers is set to bring peace and quiet to urban homes.

The 24 small speakers mounted on the metal window grill act like putting on giant noise cancelling headphones. They generate what the scientists call an acoustic shield.

On detecting noise, the speakers generate sound waves which eliminate noise at a particular frequency. It achieves up to 10 decibels’ noise reduction while at the same time letting fresh air and light into the apartment.

Gan Woon Seng, Professor of Audio Engineering explains not all noise can be eliminated.

Professor: "OK, also, with the cacophonies of all this urban noise, we are not going to cancel all sorts of noise. Instead, we have a targeted approach. We are basically going after the low frequency noise coming from the traffic and the train noise."

The World Health Organisation has outlined that many health issues such as cardiac disease, hearing loss and hypertension are aggravated by noise. It’s hoped that these noise cancelling windows will have a positive impact on people’s health.