EVER sat in a restaurant or dining room and struggled to hear yourself speak over the din of your fellow diners? A new architectural tool could be music to your ears.
Jian Kang at the University of Sheffield鈥檚 School of Architecture has developed a mathematical model that will allow architects to calculate how different room designs will sound when filled with diners (Applied Acoustics, vol 63, p 1315).
His model takes account of the shape of the room, the materials used and the seating plan to provide an 鈥渋ntelligibility鈥� score. It also works out the maximum number of seats for a given room depending on what level of noise you can stand.
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