Video
The Acoustic Experience in Restaurants
Video of Plenary Presentation by Dr. Lily Wang, Noise-Con 2020 (16 November 2020)
What is it about?
One of the top complaints by restaurant-goers is the high level of noise, which can cause patrons to be uncomfortable, make it difficult for communication, and even harm one's hearing. Many factors can impact the resulting noise levels in restaurants, such as room shape and materials, seating style and density, any background music, occupancy and more. Our research focuses on surveying current acoustic conditions in restaurants, tying those to room characteristics and occupancy, and refining methods to predict restaurant sound levels to aid in better design of restaurant acoustics.
Why is it important?
Greater awareness of how important it is to maintain restaurant sound levels in a reasonable range is needed, to promote hearing health. The data we are collecting and analyzing will provide restaurant owners and designers with more information on how to achieve good acoustic conditions in their restaurants.
Perspectives
I encourage everyone to download and use the SoundPrint app for smartphones (https://www.soundprint.co/) , to learn more and help crowd-source data on acoustics in restaurants and other indoor spaces!
Dr.
Lily M
Wang
University of Nebraska System
