anti-noise

 Open-plan offices are social, collaborative environments. They can also be noisy, filled by a cacophony of workers' chatter. But a new piece of software might help turn down the volume.

Cambridge Sound Management of Massachusetts has developed the Open Office Privacy Calculator, which lets architects plan an office's acoustics. The software calculates how the materials used to construct an office, as well as structural factors such as desk partitions and ceiling height, affect how sound travels.

Each company can then set a desired volume for its offices - choosing to embrace loud-mouthed colleagues or muffle them, for instance - and the software suggests which design tweaks and noise cancellation systems best achieve it.

NewScientistTech

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