Technology that removes unwanted noise could be deployed to improve comfort on aeroplanes after Israeli company Silentium showed how its "noise reduction solution" could be embedded into headrests. The Active Noise Control (ANC) specialist says the system would create a "personal quiet zone" around a passenger's head and could be integrated into headrests and seat backs in buses, aeroplanes and trains as well as in the home.
The QB2 technology is claimed to deliver active noise reduction in a range of 100-1500Hz, which equates to about the same reduction as when wearing an active headset.
Of course the advantage of the Silentium system is that users are not required to wear headsets, which is particularly attractive for transport applications where comfort is paramount.
QB2 is part of Silentium’s Quiet-Bubble family, a technology that belongs to a field of Zone-to-Zone ANC applications.
It consists of a headrest embedded with Active Noise Reduction system including between two and four loudspeakers, four and eight microphones and a DSP based controller.
Quiet Bubble technology is designed to reduce disturbing noise regardless of the source and works on a principle of capturing ambient noise and creating a quiet zone. Silentium says it uses a multichannel algorithm to synthesise the physical characteristics of the unwanted noise field and control the field with an array of loudspeakers.