Schlagwort: ‘MOSAIC’
The Science of Sound and Well-Being – Inside RWTH’s MOSAIC Project
Traffic noise, birdsong, or the hum of a computer – sounds are part of everyday life. But when do they start to affect our well-being?
That’s the question behind MOSAIC (Acoustic Well-Being in a Multi-Domain and Contextual Spatial Approach), a new graduate research group coordinated by RWTH Aachen University.
Foto: Andreas Schmitter
A key partner is the Institute of Hearing Technology and Acoustics (IHTA), led by Prof. Janina Fels, where engineers explore how sound and human perception interact.
Together with Prof. Marcel Schweiker from the Chair of Healthy Living Spaces, she investigates how acoustic comfort can be measured and improved.
As Prof. Schweiker notes: “Construction noise is usually perceived as more disturbing than birdsong – but at a certain level, even birdsong becomes tiring.”
Beyond volume, the team looks at how light, temperature, and room geometry influence how we experience sound – using methods and instruments deeply rooted in electrical engineering.
At the Kick-off Meeting on October 15, researchers and representatives of the HEAD Genuit Foundation gathered to launch the four-year program.
Foundation founder Prof. Klaus Genuit, a graduate of RWTH’s electrical engineering program and an honorary professor at the university, emphasized the importance of supporting young researchers in acoustic science.
“In a football stadium, I expect a certain level of noise – I’d be surprised if it were quiet,” Schweiker added.
MOSAIC aims to capture exactly this context dependency through modern sensing and signal-analysis techniques – many of which stem from ETIT’s research tradition.
