CA2122164A1

CA2122164A1 - Auto-controlled white noise system

Info

Publication number: CA2122164A1
Application number: CA002122164A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Andrew Singmin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-06-15
Filing date: 1994-06-15
Publication date: 1995-12-16

Abstract

Reduction in well being with subsequent erosion in productivity of information workers located in open plan offices is an increasing concern to office managers responsible for the effectiveness of their staff. To this end therefore, this invention has shifted the focus away from the traditional approach of concentrating on the technological specifications of white noise systems and instead focused on the more important issue of psychologically improving the well being of the user of this particular system.
The invention places the greatest emphasis on being aesthetically pleasing to the user, easy to use and deliberately tailored to be integrated into study programs for the evalaution of people's responses to the use of white noise as an effective sound masking agent against peripheral irritating noise, from co-workers conversations and general office-derived 'noise'.
The invention lays claim also to be able to electronically monitor the ambient background noise and to use this signal to automatically adjust the volume of the white noise stimulator thereby eliminating the need for the user to continually make manual adjustments as the background noise dynamically changes.

The aesthetic design of the total system is adaptable to suit the application in question and there are no drawings therefore as would normally accompany such an application. Similarly, the electronic design is infinitely variable to meet the application and therefore is also not submitted. The claim lies in the improvement to existing process by the deployment of an application specific customized system.

Description

Specifications 1. General character of the kind of process to which the~invention relates.
This invention relates to a white noise stimulator system for improvement of the psychological well beinq of information and knowledge workers, aesthetically pleasing to the user and configured to be suitable for study projects, with automatic control of the volume output, linked to the ambient noise environment.

2. Nature of articles previously known/used to be improved by resort to the invention and of the difficuFties which they involve.
It is common in other white nolse generator systems for the emphasis to be placed on the technical specifications with lesser regard on the psychological effectiveness to the user. These systems typlcally are integrated into the ceiling structure of the offices and are dif~lcult to adiust once installed. Systems in existence that are portabie units, fall typically into two categories.
Either, they are designed for the consumer market in which case they are are not optimized for use in office environments especially where study projects are also carried out or the aesthetic look of the units leave much to be desired. The sound output also in these systems can only be manually controlled by the user. These systems to date have a number of collective defiencies that make them less than suitable for deployment as portable work white noise systems for enhancing the well being of information and knowledge workers.

3. Inventive idea of new article and the way in which difficulties of previous practices overcome.
I have found that these deficiencies can be overcome by inventing a unit that is specifically optimized for the task in hand. This unit has the sound quality optimized by deploying a generous sized high quality speaker unit, designed to be aesthetically pleasing and integrating well into the existing office environment of today.
Controls for volume and frequency are stepped to allow loging of optimum setting for study projects.

212216~
These settings are also available at the rear of the unit for interfacing with a computer to automatically collect data on how the settings are changed according to user preferences during the working day.
The sound output also is automatically controlled by a-feedback signal that is related to the ambient noise environment in the office space immediately local to the user. A smoothing/hysteris network ensures that the changes in ambient noise are smoothed out in order to provide a smooth control of the white noise sound output. Sound output levels are kept low to minimize nuisance to adjacent workers.

4. Best way of usin~putting into operation the inventive idea.
The invention would be placed in close proximity to the user i.e.
a wor~er in the informaticn and knowledge work field! typically several feet away, and the volume adjusted to give the most useful value whilst being as 10W as possible. The frequency control is also adjusted to give the most pleasing response to the user. The automatic volume control feature is deployed by placina ~he pickup microphone some distance away from the unlt, 6 to 8 feet typically and pointed ln the ~eneral direction of the greatest noise source.
The very easy to use procedure emphasizes the particular attention paid to inventing a sysiem that will provide the maximum benefit with the minimum of user required input.

Claims

"The embodiment of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed is defined as follows:"

1. An intelligent acoustic white noise sound masking system for obtaining improved levels of productivity through improved well being in an open plan office space by automatically adjusting the amplitude level of said white noise system to optimally match the measured ambient dynamically changing noise environment to a pre-determined optimized ratio of white noise to ambient noise and through intelligent logic processing circuitry provide a slowly changing amplitude in white noise level such that the user is by and large not aware of said changes in audio levels, which if too abrupt in manner would detract from the psychological benefits of the said system performance capability.