On 25 July, a group from the OeAD visited the Acoustics Research Institute (ARI) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) at the invitation of Director Dr. Peter Balazs. In the past, the Acoustics Research Institute has carried out several projects in the Scientific and Technological Cooperation (S&T cooperation), a selection of the numerous projects can be found at the end of the article.
The Acoustics Research Institute
The ARI is a unique interdisciplinary research institution in Austria. Here, researchers from fields such as acoustics, biology, phonetics, numerics, mathematics, psychology and audio technology jointly investigate various issues from the broad field of acoustics. The institute is proud to be able to unite so many disciplines in one building. For example, there is further cooperation across disciplines within the institute in so-called teams that deal with artificial intelligence. External cooperation is another important aspect of the scientific work at ARI.
ARI conducts curiosity-driven basic research that is implemented in an application-oriented manner. While research results are published in professional journals, it takes about 20 years until the generated scientific knowledge reaches the general public. The research findings at ARI are specifically used in the field of hearing impairments and deafness, which has led to the production of customisable hearing aids. In the area of music, research is being conducted on hearing with personalisable headphones that are designed to enhance the listening experience in mixed reality scenarios.
Virtual reality and budgies
The OeAD group was given a tour by Dr. Balazs and Dr. Piotr Majdak, who helped them experience acoustic perception in different virtual environments. In the laboratory, experiments on sound perception and hearing with implants were demonstrated. Each ear is individual and represents an acoustic fingerprint. Another important point is understanding sound perception in other creatures and how they communicate with each other or perceive rhythm. Budgies are particularly suitable for these experiments, which is why research is being conducted with a group of this bird species at the Institute. The room for simulating acoustic situations was very impressive. With the help of 91 loudspeakers, one can experience how a conductor perceives an orchestra or how narrative voices sound from different spatial directions.
Noise awareness day
In addition to basic research, the Institute is also very active in science education and regularly welcomes school classes to the Institute. To bring the important work in the field of sound closer to children, children's comics are published. In addition, the Institute operates its own YouTube channel. Since 2015, the Institute has participated in the "Noise awareness day". The next one will take place on 24 April 2024, when the ARI will open its doors to the general public.
The OeAD is grateful for the valuable insight into the work of the Acoustics Research Institute and hopes to support the Institute's projects in the future as well.
About S&T Cooperation:
The international Scientific & Technological Cooperation programmes are based on intergovernmental and bilateral agreements or memoranda of understanding to fund bilateral research projects. On the Austrian side, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research is funding travel and accommodation costs of researchers as well as project-related material costs of up to 3,000 EUR per project for a two-year project period.
Dr. Piotr Majdak had a multilateral S&T cooperation project with France and Slovakia from March 2020 to December 2022 entitled: "Adaptability in Spatial Hearing".
Dr. Peter Balazs was project leader of the S&T cooperation project with Serbia "Analysis and Acoustics Research". He has also participated in the multilateral project "Time-Frequency representations for function spaces" with France, Czech Republic and Serbia.
Links:
Youtube channel of ARI: Institut für Schallforschung - YouTube
Acoustics Research Institute: ARI (oeaw.ac.at)
