Sound Masking definition
Sound masking is based on the homogeneous diffusion of a neutral, soft, non-intrusive and non-disturbing sound, which aims to improve confidentiality and acoustic comfort in work spaces.
The principle of sound masking is not to cancel ambient noises but to make them less perceptible to our ears by reducing their dynamics. The result is a sense of calm that promotes concentration, lower stress level and provides essential confidentiality in the workplace. Silent Space® improves the quality of the space’s sound environment.
Everyday, you experience the principle of masking: flowing fountain, seawaves, blowing wind…
To recreate these situations, we do not add additional sound energy. We stabilize it by filling the “hollows” of the acoustic landscape. The transmitted signal does not contain any particular information, it is very quickly forgotten by the brain which no longer realizes its presence.
What does that mean?
This masking sound has physical properties that allow it to be unidentifiable while reducing the ratio of the speech signal to ambient noise. The distance where human speech is intelligible, called he distraction radius, is then reduced. The distant words are less understandable and the noise peaks no longer reach the human ear so directly.
With Silent Space®, background sound level is adjusted and noise peaks are softened and less disturbing.
Today, nearly 20% of shared offices in North American countries are equipped with them.