A new project is underway in New York City! The Sounds of NYC project is a study led by researchers at New York University. We’re so excited about this because if a successful solution or process for solutions can quiet one of the noisiest cities in the world, it can change the health and quality of life for all of us.

The details of the study, SONYC, published by New York University describes how they’ll use sensors attached to machine learning, as well as citizen reporting, to listen for noise, analyze and record the noise for further analysis and solution recommendations.

Noise affects all us differently and there are many harmful levels of noise found in our physical environment particularly in bustling cities. Loud and sudden noises cause the body to produce a shot of cortisol, the fight-or-flight hormone. This happens often in loud cities like New York, heightening people’s stress level and affecting their overall mood. NYC is not known as the nicest place in the US for a reason.

Noise stresses us out...it’s simply a result of the way we’re made. The reason you can’t understand two people talking at the same time is because the brain’s auditory input storage space is relatively limited in its bandwidth to roughly 1.6 human conversations.

Our sensitivity to sound and it’s overwhelming presence in our physical environments has a profound effect on our wellbeing. The World Health Organization describes noise pollution as a “major public environmental health burden, second only to air pollution.”

Further studies like the one out of NYC are needed to take our quality of life to new levels. Quiet down people! Keep working research and science and the team at Sonic-Shield will keep making soundproofing simple and providing noise pollution solutions to and for the loudest places in our lives.

Let us know if you’re in a stress-filled, noisy environment. We’ll find a solution.