WO2019002327A1

WO2019002327A1 - Managing noise levels within an environment

Info

Publication number: WO2019002327A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/067172
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johan HÄGERLÖF
Original assignee: Flowscape Ab
Priority date: 2017-06-27
Filing date: 2018-06-26
Publication date: 2019-01-03
Also published as: GB201710215D0

Abstract

A method of managing noise levels within an environment inhabited by one or more users, comprising: measuring noise levels within the environment using a set of one or more sound measurement devices; associating at a noise management unit a source of noise having a noise level greater than a specified threshold with a user within the environment; and communicating from the noise management unit an indication that the user has breached the specified noise level threshold to at least one device associated with the user within the environment.

Description

MANAGING NOISE LEVELS WITHIN AN ENVIRONMENT

FIELD

This invention relates to techniques for managing noise levels within an environment. In particular, certain aspects of the invention relate to managing noise levels within an office environment. BACKGROUND

In certain types of environments inhabited by multiple people, it may be desirable to monitor and/or control the ambient noise levels to facilitate a harmonious atmosphere. Examples of such environments include, e.g. libraries, reading rooms, classrooms, offices etc.

Managing noise levels within such an environment may be complicated by the fact that different groups of people within the environment may have different preferred ambient noise levels. This may be based on individual noise sensitivities and/or the nature of the work being undertaken. For example, users undertaking group work, telephone conferences, meetings etc. will typically tolerate a higher ambient noise level than users engaged in solo tasks. Placing individuals with a preference for a relatively quiet environment in regions of relatively high noise may negatively impact the wellbeing of those individuals, as well as potentially reducing their productivity.

With recent trends towards open plan offices, the need to effectively manage noise levels may take on an increased importance.

One approach to managing noise levels within an environment is through passive means such as notices or signs indicating a desired noise level, or through the weight of social custom or etiquette. However, these approaches have the drawback that they may not be particularly effective due to lack of active enforcement. For example, certain individuals may be willing to breach the desired noise levels due to the lack of perceived consequences. People may also breach the desired noise levels because of a lack of awareness, facilitated by a lack of feedback.

Though it is possible for noise levels within an environment to be actively managed by the users themselves, this may have its own drawbacks. Certain people may find it difficult or unpleasant to have to ask other people within the environment to be quieter. Placing the burden of managing noise levels onto the users may also be a distraction, negatively impacting the productivity of those users. There is therefore a need for an improved approach to managing noise levels within an environment.

SUMMARY According to the present invention there is provided a method of managing noise levels and a noise management system as set out in the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows an example of a noise management system for managing noise levels within an environment.

Figure 2 shows in more detail an example of a noise management unit of the system in figure 1 .

Figure 3 shows an example illustrating the relationship between areas of the environment and coverage regions of the sound measurement devices.

Figure 4 shows an example of a user's desk within the environment.

Figure 5 shows a flowchart of steps for an example method of managing noise levels within an environment.

Figure 6 shows a flowchart of steps for another example method of managing noise levels within an environment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is directed to techniques for actively monitoring noise levels within an environment inhabited by one or more users. The environment may be a physical environment such as a library, public working space, reading room, classroom etc. It may be a working environment such as an office, or more particularly an open plan office.

Described herein are examples for actively managing and controlling the noise levels within the environment. Positioned within the environment are one or more sound measurement devices configured to measure noise levels within the environment. Users who are determined to be breaching a noise level threshold within the environment are alerted by means of an electronic device belonging to, or associated with, the user within the environment. That electronic device could for example be a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch etc. T

Users can be alerted in this manner by utilising knowledge of the users' location within the environment and the location of a source of noise having a noise level as measured by a sound measurement device that exceeds the noise level threshold. By equating the source of noise with the location of a user, that user can be associated with the source of noise. If the noise exceeds the threshold, an alert that the user has breached the noise level threshold can be communicated to one or more devices associated with that user within the environment. The actual position of each user within the environment at a given point in time may not be known (i.e. the positions may not be tracked in real-time), but instead each user may be assumed to be located within one of a set of defined working spaces within the environment. For example, if the environment is a working environment that includes multiple desks, each user within the environment may be allocated, and thus associated with, a desk. Each desk may be positioned within, or define, a working space. The location of each desk within the environment may be known, and thus one a user is allocated a desk, the location of that user can be determined.

Alerting users when they have breached a noise threshold by communicating an indication of the breach to one or more of their electronic devices enables noise levels within the environment to be actively managed without requiring intervention from other users within the environment.

Also described herein are examples for managing and controlling noise levels within an environment by allocating available working spaces to users within the environment that have ambient noise levels that best match desired, or optimal, ambient noise levels for that user.

According to these examples, a noise profile may be stored for each user affiliated with the environment (e.g. users that are currently and/or have previously inhabited the environment). The noise profile for each user may comprise an indication of a preferred ambient noise level. Again, a set of one or more sound measurement devices may be distributed throughout the environment. The noise levels measured by each of the one or more devices can be used to maintain an indication of an ambient noise level (e.g. a working noise level) for defined areas of the environment. When a new user enters the environment (e.g. a user affiliated with the environment but who has yet to have been allocated a working space), the noise profile for that user and the ambient noise levels for the areas of the environment are used to allocate a working space to that user within one of the defined areas.

This enables a user to be allocated a working space (e.g. a desk) that is located within an area of the environment that has an ambient noise level that matches the preferred noise levels for that user. Figure 1 shows an example of a system for managing noise levels within an environment 100 inhabited by users 102 and 104. Though two users are shown inhabiting the environment in this example, in general, the environment 100 may be inhabited by one or more users. Each user may be associated with a set of one or more electronic devices (for example smartphones, laptops, tablets etc.). The environment 100 may be a work environment, for example an office environment.

The system is denoted generally at 106 and comprises a set of sound measurement devices 108A-E, and a noise management unit 1 10. The system optionally includes an allocation display unit 1 16 that indicates a working space within the environment 100 that has been allocated to user 1 14, who is yet to enter the environment.

In general, the system 106 may comprise one or more sound measurement devices. Each sound measurement device 108 is configured to measure sound levels within the environment. The sound measurement device may comprise a microphone to measure the sound levels. If there are multiple sound measurement devices, each device may be configured to measure sound levels within a respective region of the environment 100. In the example shown here, each device 108A-E is configured to measure the noise level within a respective region 1 12A-E. That is, each sound measurement device has a coverage region in which it measures the noise level. The regions 1 12A-E of the environment covered by each sound measurement device 108A- E may be contiguous. This may be achieved by a suitable arrangement of the devices 108A-E within the environment 100. Alternatively, the regions covered by the sound measurement devices may partially overlap.

It will be appreciated that the number and distribution of sound measurement devices throughout the environment may depend on the size and/or configuration of the environment.

Each sound measurement device may be configured to perform acoustic localization. That is, each sound measurement device may be capable of both measuring the level of noise within a region of the environment and the location of the source of that noise. For example, a sound measurement device may comprise a sensor array having two or more probes and configured to perform acoustic localization using the time difference of arrival of a sound signal between each probe of the array.

The sound measurement devices may be mounted to a suitable surface within the environment. For example, the devices may be mounted to a ceiling of the environment. This is convenient because it minimises the intrusion of the devices into the environment. As another example, the sound measurement devices may be mounted to the floor of the environment. In another example in which the environment is an office environment comprising a set of desks, a noise measurement device may be mounted or otherwise affixed to each desk. The sound measurement devices 108 are configured to communicate measured noise levels to the noise management unit 1 10. The devices 108 may communicate the measured noise levels to the unit 100 over a wired or wireless network. The noise management unit 1 10 may be located locally to, or remotely of, the environment 100. In some implementations, the unit 1 10 may be located within the environment 100. The noise management unit 1 10 could be implemented as a server. That server may be physically located locally to or within the environment 100, or remotely (e.g. the server could be a cloud-based server).

The operation of the system 106 when managing noise levels within the environment 100 will now be described with reference to the flowchart in figure 5.

At step 501 , the sound measurement devices 108 operate to monitor noise levels within the environment. In the example shown in figure 1 , the sound management system 106 comprises multiple sound measurement devices 108A-E. Each of the sound measurement devices 108A-E measures the noise level within a corresponding region 1 12A-E of the environment 100. Each sound measurement device 108 may measure the sound level within the environment continuously. Each device 108 may then provide the continuous noise level measurement to the noise management unit 1 10. Alternatively, each noise measurement device 108 may measure the average noise level over a specified time segment for a sequence of segments. That is, rather than provide a temporally continuous noise level measurement to the unit 1 10, the devices 108 may each provide an average noise level measured over each of a sequence of time segments. This may reduce the amount of data communicated from the sound measurement devices 108 to the noise management unit 1 10. The noise levels measured by the sound measurement devices 108 are received at the noise management unit 1 10.

At step 503, the noise management unit 1 10 associates a source of noise having a noise level greater than a specified threshold with a user within the environment 100. Various examples of how the noise management unit operates to do this will now be described.

Figure 2 shows an example noise management unit 1 10 in more detail. The noise management unit 1 10 comprises an input interface 202; output interface 204; an evaluation unit 206; identification unit 208; communication unit 210 and a memory 212. Though shown as comprising two separate interfaces in this example, in other configurations the noise management unit 1 10 may comprise a single input/output (I/O) interface. The noise management unit 1 10 optionally includes a monitoring unit 214, and an allocating unit 216. The operation of these units will be described below.

The unit 1 10 receives, via the input interface 202, the measured noise levels from each of the sound measurement devices 108. The unit 1 10 may also receive from each sound measurement device an indication of the location of the source of noise measured by that device. The measured noise levels and source locations are input into the evaluation unit 206.

The evaluation unit 206 evaluates the noise levels measured by each of the sound measurement devices 108 against a specified noise threshold. The noise threshold may be fixed, or predetermined. Alternatively, the noise threshold may be configurable, e.g. within the unit 1 10. Examples of how this may be done will be described below. The evaluation unit 206 may evaluate the measured noise levels against a single noise threshold; i.e. the noise levels measured by each sound measurement device may be compared to the same threshold noise level.

Alternatively, the environment may be divided into areas, with each area having a respective threshold level. These areas may or may not align with the regions of the environment covered the sound management devices. In some cases, each area of the environment may align with a respective sound management device coverage region. In other words, each region of the environment 100 may be associated with its own threshold noise level. In this case, the evaluation unit 206 may evaluate the noise levels measured by each of the sound measurement devices 108 against a respective noise threshold. That is, each sound measurement device 108 measures the noise levels within a respective region of the environment, and the evaluation unit 206 may evaluate the noise levels measured by each of the devices 108 against a specified threshold for that region. In other cases, each area of the environment may encompass multiple sound management device 108 coverage regions. In other words, multiple sound measurement devices may be associated with each noise threshold level. In general, each area of the environment may cover, or encompass, one or more sound management device coverage regions.

An example of the relationship between areas of the environment associated with respective noise thresholds and regions of the environment covered by the sound measurement devices is illustrated in figure 3.

Figure 3 shows a plan view of an office environment comprising a number of desks - denoted generally at 302. In this example, the environment is divided into two areas 304 and 306, delineated by the solid line. Each area has its own noise threshold level. The sound measurement device coverage regions are delineated by the dashed markings denoted 308A-H. That is, in this example there would be eight sound measurement devices distributed throughout the environment. Each sound measurement device would measure the noise levels within a respective region 308A- H. Regions 308A-C and 308E-G form part of the area 306, and regions 308D,H form part of the area 304. Thus, the noise levels measured within each of regions 308A-C and 308E-G would be evaluated against a first noise level threshold for area 306, and the noise levels measured within each of regions 308D and 308H would be evaluated against a second noise level threshold for area 304. The noise threshold may be a peak noise value or an average noise level over a time interval of specified duration. In the latter case, the evaluation unit 206 may evaluate the received measured noise levels using a sliding window with a time interval equal to the specified duration. The threshold noise level may not be a single value but could comprise threshold values for multiple noise parameters. These noise parameters could be, for example, the peak noise value or the average noise value over a time interval of specified duration. If the threshold noise level comprises threshold values for multiple noise parameters, each of those values for a measured noise level may need to be exceeded such that the measured noise level be determined to have breached the threshold. If the evaluation unit 206 determines that the noise level measured by one of the sound measurement devices 108 exceeds the noise threshold, an indication of this is communicated to the identification unit 208. The evaluation unit 206 may also communicate an indication of the source location for that measured noise to the identification unit 208.

The identification unit 208 operates to identify a user within the environment 100 associated with the measured noise level that exceeds the threshold, i.e. the user associated with the source of noise having a measured noise level that exceeds the threshold. That is, the identification unit 208 operates to identify the user within the environment assumed to be responsible for exceeding the noise threshold.

The identification unit 208 may identify the user associated with the measured noise using knowledge of an assumed location of each user within the environment 100, and the source location of the measured noise as determined by the sound measurement device 108.

The assumed location of each user within the environment 100 may be determined by allocating to each user within the environment a working space of known location. For example, if the environment 100 were an office environment comprising a number of desks (e.g. as shown in figure 3), a working space assigned to a user could be a desk. The location of each desk within the environment may be known. Thus, by allocating a desk to each user within the environment, an assumed location of each user can be known (i.e., by assuming the user is at their allocated desk).

Information on the working spaces allocated to each user may be stored within a database. That database may be stored within memory 212, or externally of unit 1 10. The database may include an identification of each user within the environment 100 and an identification of each working space (e.g. desk) allocated to that user. Each user may be identified in the database by an ID, for example an employee code, or employee ID. The identification unit 208 may identify the user associated with the measured noise by mapping, or equating, the source location of the measured noise (as determined by the sound measurement device 108) with a working space within the environment. For example, the identification unit may determine the working space with a spatial location that most closely matches the source location of the measured noise. This is illustrated schematically in figure 3.

The source location of the measured noise that exceeds the noise threshold is denoted by the circular marking 310. In this example, the identification unit 208 would identify desk 312 as the desk that most closely matches the source location 304.

Once a working space has been identified (e.g. desk 312), the identification unit 208 may access the database to determine the user that has been allocated that working space. This may be done by using the ID of the identified working space to index the database to determine the user ID. For illustration, in this example the identified user is taken to be user 104

Once the identification unit 208 has identified the user 104 associated with the measured noise that exceeds the threshold, it retrieves contact information for that user. The contact information could form part of a user profile. Each user within the environment 100 may be associated with such a profile. The contact information for the users may be stored in memory 202 or elsewhere. It could be stored within the database. Thus, the contact information for each user may be stored with the user's ID within the database. The contact information could include, for example, the user's email address and phone number (desk phone and/or mobile).

The contact information for the identified user is then communicated from the identification unit 208 to the communication unit 210. At step 505, the noise management unit 1 10 communicates an indication that the user 104 has breached a noise threshold to at least one electronic device associated with the user 104 within the environment 100. The indication may be communicated to the user's device(s) via the output interface 204 of the unit 1 10.

The indication may be communicated using one or more communication protocols. Thus, the noise management unit 1 10 may support multiple communication protocols. A single communication protocol may be used to communicate the indication to multiple devices associated with the user; for example, the indication may take the form of a notification message that can be emailed or sent using an instant messaging (IM) protocol to multiple devices, such as the user's smartphone, laptop, smartwatch etc. The indication could be in the form of a push notification to the user's electronic devices. In other examples, the indication may be communicated using multiple communication protocols. For example, the indication may take the form of both a notification message and an automated voice message informing the user that they have breached a noise threshold. The notification may be communicated to the user's device(s) using text, email and/or IM. The voice message may cause the user's phone (e.g. desktop phone or mobile phone/smartphone) to ring, with the message being relayed to the user in response to the phone being answered.

The indication may be communicated to a dedicated device within the environment 100 that is associated with the user whilst the user inhabits the environment. This dedicated device may not be a personal device of the user's, but may nevertheless be associated with the user within the environment. If the environment is an office environment comprising a number of desks, this dedicated device may be a device affixed to the desk. Each desk within the environment 100 may be associated with a dedicated device.

Figure 4 shows an example desk 400 that has been allocated to a user. The desk is equipped with a desktop computer (indicated generally at 402), the user's mobile phone 404, and an alerting device 406. Alerting device 406 is not a personal device of the user's but is associated with the user within the environment when the desk 400 is allocated to the user. Alerting device 406 is configured to receive an indication from the noise management unit that the user has breached a noise threshold and, in response, alert the user of this breach. The alerting device 406 may for example comprise a light source (e.g. an LED) that alerts the user that they have breached a noise threshold, for example by implementing a blinking function.

Each such dedicated device may have an ID. That ID may be stored in association with an ID of the desk to which the device is affixed. This identification information may be stored in the database.

Thus, in general, the database may include: an identification of each user within the environment 100; an identification of each working space (e.g. desk) allocated to that user; and an identification of the alerting device associated with the working space (e.g. desk) allocated to that user. This information enables the noise management unit 1 10 to communicate the indication that a noise threshold has been breached to the correct user following identification of that user. The above example illustrates how noise management system 106 can actively manage noise levels within an environment by communicating indications of noise threshold breaches to the users responsible for those breaches. The use of sound measurement devices enables noise measurements within different regions of the environment to be measured autonomously. Furthermore, by communicating indications of noise threshold breaches to the devices of the users, the burden of having users within the environment enforce compliance with noise level regulations is avoided.

The system also enables different noise thresholds to be associated with different areas of the environment. Each of these thresholds can be monitored separately and independently. Thus, the system is capable of managing different noise levels within a single environment autonomously.

It was described above that the one or more noise thresholds for the environment may be fixed. In other implementations, the one or more noise thresholds may be configurable. The thresholds may be configured by the noise management unit, e.g. by the evaluation unit 206. The evaluation unit 206 may for example set each of the one or more thresholds in dependence on the number of people within the environment 100. If there is only a single noise threshold for the environment, then the evaluation unit 206 may set the value of that threshold in dependence on the number of users inhabiting the environment. It may be reasonable to expect that the more people inhabit the environment, the higher the general level of background noise is likely to be. Setting the threshold noise level in dependence on the number of users within the environment may avoid the threshold from being unreasonably low when relatively large numbers of users are within the environment, and/or from being too high when relatively few numbers of users are within the environment.

If there is a noise threshold for each area of the environment, the evaluation unit 206 may set the value of each noise threshold in dependence on the number of users inhabiting that area. This may be done using knowledge of the working spaces allocated to each user within the environment. Because the spatial location of each working space is known, and the location of each area of the environment is known, the evaluation unit 206 can determine the number of users inhabiting each area from the knowledge of which working spaces have been allocated to the users. In the examples described above, the sound measurement devices are fixed within the environment during operation. That is, the configuration, spatial arrangement and number of sound measurement devices can be fixed during operation and independent of the number of users inhabiting the environment at any particular instance in time, and/or the movement patterns of users, for example the movement of users into and out of the environment. Such sound measurement devices may be referred to herein as fixed sound measurement devices. The fixed sound measurement devices may be dedicated sound measurement devices (i.e., devices specifically configured to measure the noise levels within an environment). In other examples, the set of sound measurement devices may include one or more devices of users inhabiting the environment, e.g. electronic devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, asset trackers etc. Each of these electronic devices may be equipped with a microphone for measuring the sound levels within the environment. These types of sound measurement devices may be referred to herein as ad-hoc devices. The configuration, spatial arrangement and number of ad-hoc sound measurement devices may be dependent on the number of users inhabiting the environment at an instance of time and/or the movement pattern of those users, e.g. the movement of users into and out of the environment.

Because the ad-hoc devices are not fixed within the environment, but rather may be present on an ad-hoc basis, their presence within the environment may not be known a priori to the noise management unit 1 10. Each ad-hoc device may therefore communicate an indication of its identification (e.g. a device ID) to the noise management unit 1 10 when it communicates a measured noise level to the system 1 10. The identification unit 208 of the sound management unit 1 10 may identify a user associated with a source of noise measured by an ad-hoc device and having a noise level greater than a specified threshold using the device's identification indication. For example, the sound management unit 1 10 may store a list of device identifications for the devices of each user. These device identifications may be stored in a database (e.g. stored in memory 202), or as part of the user profiles. In this way, the received device identification can be used to identify the user to which the device identified by the device identification belongs. Thus, the user associated with the source of noise may be the user to which the electronic device that measured the noise level belongs. Once a user has been identified, the noise management unit 1 10 can communicate an indication that the user has breached a noise threshold as described above with reference to step 505.

In other examples, information indicative of the position of each ad-hoc device within the environment may be communicated to the noise management unit 1 10. This information may be communicated by the ad-hoc devices. An ad-hoc device may calculate its own position, or the device's position may be calculated by the noise management unit 1 10 in dependence on information communicated from the device. That is, each ad-hoc device may communicate information indicative of its position that enables the device's position to be calculated by the noise management unit 1 10. If there are multiple ad-hoc devices, a sub-set may calculate their own position and a sub-set may have their positions calculated by the noise management unit 1 10. Information on the location of each ad-hoc device within the environment can be used by the noise management unit 1 10 to determine the noise threshold to be applied by the evaluation unit 206 against the noise levels measured by that device. That is, in the event the noise thresholds within the environment are spatially dependent (i.e., exhibit spatial variance), the evaluation unit 206 can compare the noise level measured by an ad-hoc device against an appropriate threshold noise level selected in dependence on the location of the ad-hoc device within the environment.

The position of an ad-hoc device within the environment may be calculated in a number of ways. The positions may be calculated using an indoor positioning system (IPS). The indoor positioning system may form part of the noise management system. The indoor positioning system may include a number of nodes of known location within the environment. Each of these nodes may emit signals that can be received by an ad-hoc device and used to calculate the device's position. The device may for instance calculate its position in dependence on the strength, (e.g. the received signal strength, RSSI) of the received signal from multiple nodes. The signals emitted from the nodes may be transmitted in accordance with a suitable wireless communications protocol such as Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. In this example the nodes may be referred to as beacons. Alternatively, the nodes may be configured to receive sensory information emitted by the ad-hoc device, and use this information to enable the IPS to calculate the position of the device. For example, the nodes may be arranged in a network of known configuration throughout the environment. The nodes may form a grid arrangement, for example. Each node may be a low-range receiver, such that the ad-hoc device at a given position within the environment will be detected by only nearby nodes, enabling the position of the device to be determined. In this case, the position of the device may be communicated from the IPS to the noise management unit, or communicated from the IPS to the device, and from the device to the noise management unit. The set of sound measurement devices may therefore consist solely of fixed sound measurement devices, or may comprise a sub-set of fixed sound measurement devices and a sub-set of ad-hoc sound measurement devices. In other examples, the set of sound measurement devices may consist solely of ad-hoc sound measurement devices. Thus, in general, the noise management system may comprise a network of sound measurement devices 108. That network could be composed solely of fixed sound measurement devices; solely of ad-hoc devices; or composed of a combination of fixed and ad-hoc devices. Augmenting a set of fixed sound measurement devices with one or more ad-hoc devices advantageously increases the number of sound measurement devices operating within the environment without requiring additional sound measurement devices to be supplied by the vendor and/or operator of the sound measurement system. A sound measurement network composed solely of ad- hoc devices eliminates the requirement for the provision of sound measurement devices by the vendor/operator altogether.

The examples above describe a noise management system for actively providing feedback to users within an environment when those users exceed a noise threshold. The noise management system 106 may also be capable of allocating a working space to users as they enter the environment. An example of such a user is shown in figure 1 at 1 14.

The working space allocated to the user 1 14 is determined by the noise management system 106, and in particular may be determined by the monitoring unit 214 and allocating unit 216 illustrated in figure 2. Example details of how the system 106 operates to allocate working spaces to users will now be described with reference to the flowchart in figure 6. At step 601 , the noise management unit 1 10 maintains a noise profile for a set of users.

The set of users comprises the users 102 and 104 inhabiting the environment. The set of users may further include users not currently inhabiting the environment. The set of users may for instance include users associated with the environment, e.g. users who are, or who have previously, inhabited the environment. If the environment 100 is an office environment, the set of users may include employees who work in that office environment. The noise profile for a user may comprise an indication of a desired ambient noise level for that user The ambient noise level may be a working noise level (i.e. a noise level tolerable for the user when performing a work activity). The desired ambient noise level may be specified as one of a discrete number of noise levels, e.g. 'low', 'medium' and 'high'. Alternatively or in addition, the noise profile for a user may comprise an indication of the number of times the user has breached a noise threshold within the environment 100. The noise profile for a user may contain a set of desired ambient noise levels each associated with a different activity the user may perform in the environment. For example, the activity of reading may be associated with a relatively low desired noise level, whereas the activity of testing or experimentation may be associated with a relatively high desired noise level.

The noise profiles for the set of users may be stored internally of the noise management unit 1 10, for example within memory 212.

At step 603, the noise management unit 1 10 maintains an indication of a ambient noise level within each of a set of areas within the environment 100.

As described above with reference to figure 3. the areas may or may not align with the regions of the environment covered the sound management devices 108A-E. In some cases, each area of the environment may align with a respective sound management device coverage region 1 12. In this case, each sound measurement device 108A-E measures the noise levels within a respective region 1 12A-E of the environment, and the noise management unit 1 10 uses those measured noise levels to maintain an indication of a ambient noise level within each region. Thus, the noise level measured in a region by a noise measurement device is used by the noise management unit 1 10 to maintain an indication of an ambient noise level within that region.

In other cases, each area of the environment 100 may encompass multiple sound management device coverage regions 1 12. In this case, the noise management unit 1 10 may use the noise levels measured within multiple coverage regions to maintain an indication of an ambient noise level within each area of the environment. The ambient noise level may characterise the level of noise within a particular area of the environment. It may characterise the level of noise over some specified duration. The ambient noise level may be representative of an expected, or general, level of noise within the area.

Referring to figure 2, the indications of ambient noise levels within each of the areas within the environment may be maintained by the monitoring unit 214.

In one set of examples, the monitoring unit may maintain the ambient noise levels for the areas of the environment using the measured noised levels from the noise measurement devices 108. For example, the ambient noise level within each area of the environment may be determined in dependence on the number of times the noise threshold for that area has been breached within some specified duration (i.e., the frequency at which the noise threshold for that area is breached, or exceeded). The monitoring unit 214 may be configured to receive from the evaluation unit 206 an indication each time a noise threshold is breached, and the source location of the noise that breached the threshold (e.g. as determined by the sound measurement device that measured the noise). The monitoring unit 214 can then determine the area in which the noise threshold has been breached from the source location of the measured noise. If the noise threshold for an area of the environment is exceeded relatively frequently, this may indicate a relatively high ambient noise level. In contrast, if the noise threshold is breached relatively infrequently, this may indicate a relatively low ambient noise level for that area. Alternatively, the ambient noise level for an area of the environment may be determined from the noise levels measured within the one or more regions within that area. The monitoring unit 214 may for example receive the noise levels measured by the sound measurement devices via the input interface 202. The monitoring unit may then determine the ambient noise level for each area using the measured noise levels within the one or more regions encompassed by that area. The ambient noise level could for example be an average measured noise level. The measured noise level may be averaged over each region within the area and/or averaged over time. The monitoring unit 214 may therefore update the ambient noise level maintained for each area over time. In another set of examples, the monitoring unit 214 may maintain an indication of the ambient noise levels using the noise profiles for the users inhabiting the environment and the spatial location of the work spaces allocated to those users. For example, the monitoring unit 214 may determine, for each area, the users having an allocated working space within that area and the noise profile for those users. The noise profiles for the users having allocated working spaces within the area can then be used to determine the ambient noise level for the area. For instance, if the noise profiles for the users indicate that few, or none, of the users for an area have breached a noise threshold, or that the users have a preference for relatively quiet noise levels, the ambient noise level for that area may be determined to be relatively quiet. At step 605, a working space within an area of the environment 100 is allocated to a new user entering the environment in dependence on the noise profile for that user and the ambient noise levels for the areas.

A new user may be a user who has not yet been allocated a working space within the environment. In figure 1 , the new user is denoted 1 14.

Step 605 may be performed by the allocating unit 216. The allocating unit 216 may receive via the input interface 202 an indication of the identity of user 1 14 (e.g. a user ID). The user's ID may be communicated to the noise management unit 1 10 in response to the user performing an authentication or sign-in procedure. The user may swipe an access card, for example.

In response to receiving the user's ID, the allocating unit may access the memory 212 to retrieve the noise profile for that user. The allocating unit may also receive the indications of the ambient noise levels within each of the areas from the monitoring unit 214.

Based on the ambient noise levels and the noise profile for user 1 14, the allocating unit allocates a working space to user 1 14. The working space allocated to user 1 14 may be located within the area of the environment with the ambient noise level that most closely matches the user's noise profile. For example, if the noise profile indicates that the user 1 14 prefers a relatively quiet working environment, the user may be allocated a working space within the area having the quietest ambient noise level. If the ambient noise levels are determined from noise profiles of users inhabiting the environment, the allocating unit 216 may allocate a working space within the area of the environment inhabited by users having noise profiles that most closely match the noise profile for the user 1 14. Thus, the allocating unit may allocate a working space to the user in dependence on the noise profile for that user, and the noise profiles of users inhabiting the environment and the spatial location of their working spaces.

If the noise profile for a user contains a set of ambient noise levels associated with different activities, the user may, when entering the environment, indicate the type of activity they wish to perform in the environment. This may be provided when the user completes the sign-in or authentication procedure, for example. An indication of the desired activity may be provided along with the user's ID to the noise management unit 1 10, and specifically to the allocating unit 216. The allocating unit can then use the user's ID to access the noise profile for the user, and identify a desired ambient noise level using the desired activity indication to reference the noise profile. The allocating unit may then allocate a working space to the user accordingly. Thus, the allocating unit may allocate a working space to the user further in dependence on the desired activity to be performed by the user within the environment. Once a working space has been allocated to the user 1 14, an indication of this allocation is communicated to the allocation display unit 1 16 via the output interface 204. The allocation display unit 1 16 then displays an indication of the allocated workspace to the user 1 14. The allocation display unit 1 16 could be a display screen, for example. The screen may display a map of each working space within the environment, with the allocated working space being marked.

In some instances, a user may wish to change the working space they have been allocated. For example, a user may have completed one type of activity within the environment, and wish to begin a different type of activity. The user may input their new activity, for example into a terminal located within the environment, or into one of their electronic devices. An indication of the new activity can then be communicated to the allocating unit 216 of the noise management unit 1 10. The allocating unit 216 can then allocate a working space to the user using the updated activity indication. Thus, the allocating unit 216 may be configured to allocate a new working space to a user in response to receiving an updated activity indication. The working space allocated to a user may therefore not be fixed, but can vary and be updated as the user performs different activities within the environment. The noise management system may therefore allow working spaces to be allocated to users that best match those users' individual noise level preferences. By monitoring the noise levels within the environment, the allocation of work spaces based on user preferences can be made in a dynamic fashion, e.g. based on current noise conditions within various areas of the environment.

A number of variations and modifications may be made to the noise management system described above. For example, the noise management unit 1 10 may not include monitoring unit 214 and allocating unit 216. In this case, the noise management system may not be capable of allocating working spaces to users, but can operate to actively manage noise levels within the environment. In other implementations, the noise management unit 1 10 may include the monitoring unit 214 and allocating unit 216, but not the evaluation unit 206, the identification unit 208 or the communication unit 210. In this case, the noise management system may be capable of allocating working spaces to users, but not indicating to users when they've exceeded a noise threshold.

The noise management system may be implemented within any suitable type of environment, for example a work, office, or school environment. The system may include any suitable number (e.g. one or more) of sound measurement devices, and in any suitable distribution throughout the environment. The units of the sound measurement unit 1 10 shown in figure 2 may represent software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. In the case of a software implementation, the units represent program code that performs the specified tasks when executed on a processor. The methods described herein could be performed by one or more processors executing code that causes the processor(s) to perform the /methods. The code may be stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. Examples of a computer-readable storage medium include a random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), an optical disc, flash memory, hard disk memory, and other memory devices that may use magnetic, optical, and other techniques to store instructions or other data and that can be accessed by a machine.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such features or combinations are capable of being carried out based on the present specification as a whole in the light of the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that aspects of the present invention may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1 . A method of managing noise levels within an environment inhabited by one or more users each associated with a set of one or more electronic devices, comprising: measuring noise levels within the environment using a set of one or more sound measurement devices, wherein at least one sound measurement device is an electronic device associated with a user within the environment;

associating at a noise management unit a source of noise having a noise level greater than a specified threshold with a user within the environment; and

communicating from the noise management unit an indication that the user associated with the source of noise has breached the specified noise level threshold to at least one device associated with the/that user within the environment.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more sound measurement devices communicates noise levels of measured noise within the environment to the noise management unit.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, the method comprising evaluating at the noise management unit the noise levels measured by each of the one or more sound measurement devices against a specified threshold.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the specified threshold comprises threshold values for one or more noise parameters.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the noise parameters comprise one or more of: a peak noise value; average noise value over a time interval of specified duration.

6. A method as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, the method comprising setting the specified threshold as a function of the number of users inhabiting the environment.

7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the one or more sound measurement devices is a plurality of sound measurement devices comprising one or more sound measurement devices of a first type and one or more sound measurement devices of a second type, the number of sound measurement devices of the first type being independent of the number of users inhabiting the environment and the number of sound measurement devices of the second type being dependent on the number of users inhabiting the environment.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the sound measurement devices of the first type have a spatial arrangement within the environment that is independent of movement patterns of users within the environment, and the sound measurement devices of the second type have a spatial arrangement within the environment that is dependent on the movement patterns of users within the environment.

9. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each user inhabiting the environment is associated with a set of one or more devices, and at least one sound measurement device is an electronic device associated with a user inhabiting the environment.

10. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the set of one or more sound measurement devices is a plurality of devices distributed throughout the environment each configured to monitor noise levels within a respective region of the environment, and the noise levels measured by each of the plurality of sound measurement devices are evaluated against a respective specified threshold.

1 1 . A method as claimed in claim 10, the method comprising setting each specified threshold as a function of the number and spatial distribution of users within the environment.

12. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the environment is an office environment comprising a number of working spaces, each of the one or more users inhabiting the environment being allocated a respective working space, the method comprising storing in a database an identification of the user associated with each working space.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein each of the one or more sound measurement devices is configured to locate the source of measured noise within the environment, and to communicate the source location and noise levels of the measured noise to the noise management unit.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the associating step comprises: identifying a working space from the location of the source of measured noise having a noise level greater than a specified threshold; and associating the user associated with that working space as specified by the database with the source of noise.

15. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising maintaining at the noise management unit an indication of an ambient noise level for a set of areas within the environment.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising: maintaining a noise profile for a set of users comprising the one or more users inhabiting the environment; and allocating to a new user entering the environment a working space within an area of the set of areas in dependence on the noise profile for that user and the ambient noise levels for the set of areas.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16, comprising using the measured noise levels within the environment to maintain the ambient noise levels for the set of areas.

18. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the ambient noise level for each area is determined from the noise profiles of users inhabiting that area.

19. A method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the working space is allocated to the new user in dependence on; i) the noise profile for that user; and ii) the noise profiles of users inhabiting the environment and the spatial location of their allocated working spaces.

20. A method as claimed in any of claims 16 to 19, the noise profile for each user comprising one of or more: an indication of the number of times that user has breached a specified noise level threshold; a desired ambient noise level.

21 . A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the environment is an office environment comprising a number of desks each equipped with an alerting device, each of the one or more users inhabiting the environment being associated with a respective desk, and the communicating step comprises communicating the indication that the user has breached the specified noise level threshold to the alerting device for the user's desk.

22. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of: a mobile device belonging to the user; a laptop or computer belonging to the user; a tablet belonging to the user; a smartwatch belonging to the user.

23. A noise management system for managing noise levels within an environment inhabited by one or more users, comprising:

one or more sound measurement devices configured to monitor noise levels within the environment; and

a noise management unit configured to: associate a source of noise having a noise level greater than a specified threshold with a user within the environment; and communicate an indication that the user has breached the specified noise level threshold to at least one device associated with the user within the environment.

24. A system as claimed in claim 23, wherein each of the one or more sound measurement devices is configured to communicate noise levels of measured noise within the environment to the noise management unit.

25. A system as claimed in claim 23 or 24, wherein the noise management unit is configured to evaluate the noise levels measured by each of the one or more sound measurement devices against a specified threshold.

26. A system as claimed in claim 25, wherein the specified threshold comprises threshold values for one or more noise parameters.

27. A system as claimed in claim 26, wherein the noise parameters comprise one or more of: a peak noise value; average noise value over a time interval of specified duration.

28. A system as claimed in any of claims 25 to 27, wherein the noise management unit is configured to set the specified threshold as a function of the number of users inhabiting the environment.

29. A system as claimed in any of claims 23 to 28, wherein the one or more sound measurement devices is a plurality of sound measurement devices comprising one or more sound measurement devices of a first type and one or more sound measurement devices of a second type, the number of sound measurement devices of the first type being independent of the number of users inhabiting the environment and the number of sound measurement devices of the second type being dependent on the number of users inhabiting the environment.

30. A system as claimed in claim 29, wherein the sound measurement devices of the first type have a spatial arrangement within the environment that is independent of movement patterns of users within the environment, and the sound measurement devices of the second type have a spatial arrangement within the environment that is dependent on the movement patterns of users within the environment.

31 . A system as claimed in any of claims 23 to 30, wherein each user inhabiting the environment is associated with a set of one or more devices, and at least one sound measurement device is an electronic device associated with a user inhabiting the environment.

32. A system as claimed in any of claims 23 to 31 , wherein the set of one or more sound measurement devices is a plurality of devices distributed throughout the environment each configured to monitor noise levels within a respective region of the environment, and the noise management unit is configured to evaluate the noise levels measured by each of the plurality of sound measurement devices against a respective specified threshold.

33. A system as claimed in claim 32, wherein the noise management unit is configured to set each specified threshold as a function of the number and spatial distribution of users within the environment.

34. A system as claimed in any of claims 23 to 33, wherein the environment is an office environment comprising a number of working spaces, each of the one or more users inhabiting the environment being associated with a respective working space, and the noise management unit is configured to store in a database an identification of the user associated with each working space.

35. A system as claimed in claim 34, wherein each of the one or more sound measurement devices is configured to locate the source of measured noise within the environment, and to communicate the source location and noise levels of the measured noise to the noise management unit.

36. A system as claimed in claim 35, wherein the noise management unit is configured to associate the source of noise having a level greater than a specified threshold with a user by: identifying a working space from the location of the source of measured noise having a noise level greater than a specified threshold; and associating the user associated with that working space as specified by the database with the source of noise.

37. A system as claimed in any of claims 23 to 36, wherein the noise management unit is configured to maintain an indication of a ambient noise level for a set of areas within the environment.

38. A system as claimed in claim 37, wherein the noise management unit is further configured to: maintain a noise profile for a set of users comprising the one or more users inhabiting the environment; and allocate to a new user entering the environment a working space within an area of the set of areas in dependence on the noise profile for that user and the ambient noise levels for the set of areas.

39. A system as claimed in claim 38, wherein the noise management unit is configured to use the measured noise levels within the environment to maintain the ambient noise levels for the set of areas.

40. A system as claimed in claim 38, wherein the ambient noise level for each area is determined from the noise profiles of users inhabiting that area.

41 . A system as claimed in claim 40, wherein the noise management unit is configured to allocate a working space to the new user in dependence on; i) the noise profile for that user; and ii) the noise profiles of users inhabiting the environment and the spatial location of their allocated working spaces.

42. A system as claimed in any of claims 38 to 41 , the noise profile for each user comprising one of or more: an indication of the number of times that user has breached a specified noise level threshold; a desired ambient noise level.

43. A system as claimed in any of claims 23 to 42, wherein the environment is an office environment comprising a number of desks each equipped with an alerting device, each of the one or more users inhabiting the environment being associated with a respective desk, and the noise management unit is configured to communicate the indication that the user has breached the specified noise level threshold to the alerting device for the user's desk.

44. A system as claimed in any of claims 23 to 43, wherein the at least one device comprises at least one of: a mobile device belonging to the user; a laptop or computer belonging to the user; a tablet belonging to the user; a smartwatch belonging to the user.

45. A method of managing noise levels within an environment inhabited by one or more users, comprising:

maintaining at a noise management unit a noise profile for a set of users comprising the users inhabiting the environment;

maintaining at the noise management unit an indication of a ambient noise level for a set of areas within the environment; and allocating to a new user entering the environment a working space within an area of the set of areas in dependence on the noise profile for that user and the ambient noise levels for the set of areas.

46. A method as claimed in claim 45, further comprising measuring noise levels within the environment using a set of one or more sound measurement devices; wherein the ambient noise level for the set of areas is maintained using the measured noise levels within the environment.

47. A method as claimed in claim 45, wherein the ambient noiselevel for each area is determined from the noise profiles of users inhabiting that area.

48. A method as claimed in claim 47, wherein the working space is allocated to the new user in dependence on; i) the noise profile for that user; and ii) the noise profiles of users inhabiting the environment and the spatial location of their allocated working spaces.

49. A method as claimed in any of claims 45 to 48, the noise profile for each user comprising one of or more of: an indication of the number of times that user has breached a specified noise level threshold; a desired ambient noise level.

50. A method as claimed in any of claims 45 to 49, wherein the noise profile for each user contains a set of one or more desired ambient noise levels each associated with an activity to be performed in the environment.

51 . A method as claimed in claim 50, wherein the working space is allocated to the new user in dependence on: i) the noise profile for that user; ii) the ambient noise levels for the set of areas; and iii) a desired activity to be performed by that user in the environment.

52. A noise management system for managing noise levels within an environment inhabited by one or more users, comprising:

a noise management unit configured to: maintain a noise profile for a set of users comprising the users inhabiting the environment;

maintain an indication of a ambient noise level for a set of areas within the environment; and

allocate to a new user entering the environment a working space within an area of the set of areas in dependence on the noise profile for that user and the ambient noise levels for the set of areas.

53. A system as claimed in claim 52, further comprising a set of one or more sound measurement devices configured to measure noise levels within the environment and to communicate measured noise levels to the noise management unit; wherein the noise management unit is configured to maintain the ambient noise levels for the set of areas using the measured noise levels within the environment.

54. A system as claimed in claim 52, wherein the noise management unit is configured to determine the ambient noise level for each area from the noise profiles of users inhabiting that area.

55. A system as claimed in claim 52, wherein the noise management unit is configured to allocate the working space to the new user in dependence on; i) the noise profile for that user; and ii) the noise profiles of users inhabiting the environment and the spatial location of their allocated working spaces.

56. A system as claimed in any of claims 52 to 5, wherein the noise profile for each user comprises one of or more: an indication of the number of times that user has breached a specified noise level threshold; a desired ambient noise level.

57. A system as claimed in any of claims 52 to 56, wherein the noise profile for each user contains a set of one or more desired ambient noise levels each associated with an activity to be performed in the environment.

58. A system as claimed in claim 57, wherein the noise management unit is configured allocate a working space to the new user in dependence on: i) the noise profile for that user; ii) the ambient noise levels for the set of areas; and iii) a desired activity to be performed by that user in the environment.