A diffuser for architectural acoustics exploiting metamaterials

What is it about?

Architectural acoustic diffusers are used to treat aberrations in rooms such as echoes. They do this by dispersing sound. Add frosting to a mirror and the light reflection gets indistinct, add a diffuser to a wall and sound reflections become blurred. The paper outlines a new approach to producing a diffuser that draws upon findings in metamaterial physics. By exploited the slow-wave phenomenon, we can create a diffuser that is shallower than many conventional designs.

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Why is it important?

In architectural acoustics making a treatment shallower is usually better. It reduces the amount of the room taken up with treatments, and is more environmentally-friendly as it reduces the quantity of material needed. The design outlined in the paper could be made by extrusion.

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