UK's  SoundCurtain is the brainchild of Royal College of Art graduate Andreas Raptopoulo (right) who has  founded  FutureAcoustics,  inspired when he first moved to London, one of the world’s noisiest cities.

The high tech application doesn’t block out outside noise  but replace it with an effective sound barrier. Andreas noted that although we design and control our environments to a high extent, sound control remained elusive.
 
In highly-populated environments where people need to perform, like open-plan offices,  piped white sound was once the rage, but Raptopoulos imagined a system that would allow its users to tune out the sound they are exposed to, and concealing what is distracting or irrelevant.
 
After an evening disturbed by his housemates, Raptopoulosbdecided he needed to try to find a solution to noise: “My housemates were ... partying on a Friday night. I still had work to finish however, so I was sitting in my room trying to concentrate with music and voices coming in through the walls. I figured I’m a designer – so it’s up to me to find a solution!”
 
His solution is a3, technology that ‘listens to’ outside noise, using the microphone on the iPhone or iTouch headset, and transforming it into soothing ambient sound.
 
An early prototype won the BSI Innovation Award in 1999. After graduating from the Royal College of Art Raptpoulos approached a leading US office furniture manufacturer. It was here that he developed state of the art algorithms for real-time noise masking - based on the same principles that mp3 uses to compress sound.
 
“SoundCurtain doesn’t block out outside noise, as much as replace it with something environmentally kinder,” Raptopoulos explained. “What we try to create through the transformation is a sound environment that can actually be neglected by the brain. Imagine the sound of the sea, always fluctuating. At first you listen to it, then it just fades into the background.”
 
Pointing out that the technology has practical applications for both home and office, the developer added:  "We want to take this to anyone annoyed by noise - be whilst at work, trying to study at home, in the hospital, commuting or travelling. Crucially, in comparison to the vast number of ‘silly apps’ vying for space in a rapidly over-crowded marketplace, this is a grown-up application."
 
Working with multi-nationals to develop a3 as a stand-alone 'sound conditioning' device, the technology has excited  key players in electronics and mobile industries. Following the launch on the Apple handsets, FutureAcoustic is already working on developing the application for other mobile platforms including Nokia and Android.

Ecotones algorithms soothe sleep
A new tabletop machine from Adaptive Sound Technologies uses its algorithms to create soothing bedside sounds. Sound machines have existed for years, but the Ecotones ($299), adds a new, responsive twist: as when the soundtrack is running and it senses a disruption to bedroom quiet, it responds immediately with additional cloaking sounds.

Set the dial to ocean sounds, for example, and it produces the sounds of continuous rolling waves, fog horns and the calls of sea gulls. But if a truck suddenly rumbles by outside the bedroom, the machine masks it by producing an more crashing wave or two.

Ecotones has a library of sounds from babbling brooks to cricket chirps to fireside crackling, according to  Sam Nicolino Jr., CEO of the Campbell, California based company.  The mike built in unit detects ambient sound in the room;  the software has selects an appropriate masking noise, and possibly raises the soundtrack, to attenuate the effects of disrupting sounds.

Sam Nicolino, (right) a founder of Adaptive Sound Technologies in January 2008, invented and patented the Adaptive Sound Transformation System which forms the basis of the company's products. Nicolino also co-founded AppNet Inc, a high performance, low cost FPGA-based prototyping syste acquired by Nvidia. He created the Ecotone device as a result of a freeway being built near his home and realising he could mask its roar by the sound of ocean waves.

Jay Littlefield, director of product management, estimates that about 90% of customers were buying Ecotones for their bedrooms. “The remainder are using them to mask noise in the office or living room,” he said.

Sources: FutureAcoustic
A Sound Machine
Adaptive Sound Technologies Inc