“Annoying noises that distract you at work could soon be just an unpleasant memory,”this article from The Australian says.”Scientists believe that advances in sound engineering will mean that silence can be achieved at the press of a button. Sound nullifiers will be built into desks and PCs to allow office workers to select a soundscape. Whether the problem is a noisy printer, passing traffic or a colleague’s irritating cadences, it will be possible to create a quiet zone. In the home, the yapping of a neighbour’s dog and the noise of doors being slammed may be silenced. The technology of soundscaping is already part of some headphones and cars. The principle of “active noise cancellation” is that sound has waves of peaks and troughs and can be cancelled out by producing the inverse simultaneously. Researchers at the School of Computing at Napier University, Edinburgh, are among those trying to devise the software to predict noises and create nullifying soundwaves. They hope to develop the technology to provide “silent pools” - just as desk-lamps create pools of light”.

Silence on the way at the push of a button

“Annoying noises that distract you at work could soon be just an unpleasant memory,”this article from The Australian says.”Scientists believe that advances in sound engineering will mean that silence can be achieved at the press of a button. Sound nullifiers will be built into desks and PCs to allow office workers to select a soundscape. [...]