Researchers make big strides in noise cancellation

Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have found a way to cancel out the noise produced by things like motors and air conditioning units, providing some much-needed relief to anyone working or living in a noisy environment. Professor Thushara Abhayapala from the Research School of Engineering says it's a similar concept to the technology used in noise cancellation headphones - but on a much bigger scale. "What we're looking at is cancelling the sound over an extended region, without wearing headphones. That's a much more difficult and complex task because it's not just confined to the ear cup, and things reflect back from walls and around rooms," Professor Abhayapala said. "We've come up with a technique to separate the sound going out from the sound coming in, and actually cancel the sound going out. No matter where you are around it, you get the reduced noise level," Professor Abhayapala said. PhD scholar and lead author Fei Ma was the first one to get the demonstration working.