The birth of intelligent passive room acoustic technology: a qualitative review
Smart and Sustainable Built Environment
ISSN: 2046-6099
Article publication date: 20 August 2021
Issue publication date: 2 January 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Informed by acoustic design standards, the built environments are designed with single reverberation times (RTs), a trade-off between long and short RTs needed for different space functions. A range of RTs should be achievable in spaces to optimise the acoustic comfort in different aural situations. This paper proclaims a novel concept: Intelligent passive room acoustic technology (IPRAT), which achieves real-time room acoustic optimisation through the integration of passive variable acoustic technology (PVAT) and acoustic scene classification (ASC). ASC can intelligently identify changing aural situations, and PVAT can physically vary the RT.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative best-evidence synthesis method is used to review the available literature on PVAT and ASC.
Findings
First, it is highlighted that dynamic spaces should be designed with varying RTs. The review then exposes a gap of intelligently adjusting RT according to changing building function. A solution is found: IPRAT, which integrates PVAT and ASC to uniquely fill this literature gap.
Originality/value
The development, functionality, benefits and challenges of IPRAT offer a holistic understanding of the state-of-the-art IPRAT, and a use case example is provided. Going forward, it is concluded that IPRAT can be prototyped and its impact on acoustic comfort can be quantified.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge funding from the Auckland University of Technology.
Citation
Burfoot, M., Ghaffarianhoseini, A., Naismith, N. and GhaffarianHoseini, A. (2023), "The birth of intelligent passive room acoustic technology: a qualitative review", Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 60-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-06-2021-0096
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited