The wonderful sound of silence: Scientists have developed “the world’s first spatial active noise cancellation” that uses the power of the GPU to soundproof entire rooms

Modern life can be quite stressful at times, and it doesn’t lend a hand that there is so much noise around us all the time. In crowded office spaces, roads clogged with vehicles, and public areas crowded with people, finding silence to think and refresh is not effortless. However, researchers in Japan believe they have solved the problem by developing a GPU-powered lively noise cancellation system that is powerful enough to silence an entire room.

This according to NTT laboratoriesas reported Computer watch. It claims to have developed “the world’s first spatial active noise control (spatial ANC) technology.” Active noise cancellation (ANC) is certainly nothing modern, and many readers will likely own a gaming headset with this feature.

What sets NTT technology apart is the combination of sound processing speed and the way it is applied. ANC headphones apply microphones to pick up ambient sounds, which are then sent to a compact signal processor. This calculates what “out-of-phase” sounds need to be generated, which will then be emitted by the speakers.

The original sound and modern sounds overlap and partially cancel each other, significantly reducing the impact of noise. What limits the effectiveness of the system is the fact that most ANC mechanisms are relatively leisurely due to the capabilities of the processor.

NTT researchers implemented GPGPU (general-purpose GPU) to speed things up, and by no means. Instead of taking roughly a millisecond to go through everything, this modern technology can apparently do it in about two microseconds. This is so brisk that it allows the ANC system to focus on sound reflections or highly variable noises.

This makes it ideal for dealing with noise in a room or vehicle where walls and other surfaces generate many complicated reflections. “It can help reduce vehicle and aircraft cabin noise, urban traffic noise, and create a quiet environment in conference rooms and hotels, thereby improving quality of life and reducing the impact of noise on hearing,” says NTT.

Of course, like all forms of ANC, this modern technology won’t be able to turn a busy coffee shop into a center of calming silence, but anything that distracts you from the sheer cacophony of state-of-the-art life has to be a good thing. NTT believes its technology will be commercially deployed within the year, so if you’re waiting for a flight and wondering why it’s a little quieter than usual, you’ll know exactly why.