April 25th is International Noise Awareness Day

April 25th, 2018 is International Noise Awareness Day — dedicated to raising awareness of the effects of noise on public health.

For those in the USA, the Acoustical Society of America invites everyone to participate for the entire month of April. Here’s a list of activities you can participate in, which I found on ExploreSound. You can:

1. Take sound level measurements!

• Download the SoundPrint App (iOS only) to review noise levels of restaurants.
• You can use the decibel meter to measure the venue’s loudness and submit (crowdsource) it for the community to see! (SoundPrint measures the approximate decibel level and is not a replacement for a professional sound level measuring device.)
• Watch 2 how-to videos: https://www.soundprint.co/how-to-use-app/

2. Read scientific research about crowdsourcing sound level measurements.

• Download a PDF of “Analyses of Crowd-sourced Sound levels of Restaurants and Bars in New York City.” This study reports on an exploratory large-scale noise survey of sound levels of 2,376 restaurants and bars in New York City using a novel smart-phone application (SoundPrint) and categorized them based on how quiet or loud they were.
• Find even more open access research in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (POMA) an online journal published by the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). Articles originate as papers presented at ASA meetings and other cosponsored meetings.

BONUS!

• Each month, the top SoundPrint user with the most submissions nationwide will receive a $100 Amazon gift card – start submitting now!
• Visit https://www.soundprint.co/challenges/national-challenge/ for more information.

3. Watch the movie “In Pursuit of Silence.”

• You can host a screening of the film
• Find a screening of the film or
• Rent or buy the film
• Download the discussion guide

4. Join ASA for a YouTube live stream on INAD, April 25, 2018

• Listen to our expert panel of acousticians will discuss all things related to noise! — 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
• Leave questions and comments for the expert panelists (see the list) or tweet using #ASAINAD2018>

That $100 Amazon gift card (see the bonus, above) is a great incentive to contribute lots of noise-level readings to SoundPrint. The more contributors, the better!

You can find more information on activities in Europe from INCE (Institute of Noise Control Engineering), the Center for Hearing Communication, or from the European Acoustics Association.