Draft:Acoustic pod

Acoustic Pod — a specialized structure (module) designed to create a soundproof, quiet, private space within a room, studio, or office, ensuring confidentiality.

History

The first prototypes of acoustic pods appeared in the late 19th century following the invention of the telephone. This was driven by the desire to isolate the speaker from surrounding noise. To this end, in 1877, Thomas Watson built a wooden booth and lined it with blankets...

With the advent of sound cinema (in the 1920s), the need for silence on the film set arose. Large, noisy movie cameras began to be placed in soundproof booths (manufactured by Western Electric) to prevent noise from being picked up on the audio recording..

In the mid-20th century, the music industry began to develop rapidly, and the need arose to create recording studios and vocal and instrumental booths within them. Performers (vocalists, drummers) were recorded separately from one another, which prevented sound from reaching neighboring microphones.

The office boom of the 21st century highlighted the problem of excessive noise and a lack of privacy for phone calls. Since 2000, office architecture has increasingly incorporated mobile acoustic pods for individual work and business meetings.

Types of Acoustic Pods

Booth are categorized by purpose, size, and number of seats. Among the most common are office and vocal pods. There are also announcer booth, director's booth, and others.

Office acoustic pods

The vast majority of acoustic pods are designed for one, two, or four people. It is also rare to come across larger booths.

Office acoustic pods are used as chat booths, Skype booths, for job interviews, as meeting rooms, or for testing various products in companies' marketing departments.

These acoustic pods are used in the offices of "Microsoft", "IBM", "Google", "Puma", "Nvidia", "Vodafone", "Cloudera", "Datadog", "McDonald's", "Deloitte", "General Electric", "Siemens", "monobank", and many other companies.

A modern acoustic pods is a self-contained module. Its construction typically consists of multilayer panels with sound-absorbing materials, laminated glass, and airtight door seals.

Its soundproofing properties allow it to block up to 35 dB of noise. The soundproofing is focused on the 150–500 Hz range, which corresponds to the frequencies of human speech and monotonous office noise. The walls are covered with 4-mm felt with a sound absorption coefficient of 0.6–0.8 (maximum: 1). Sound-absorbing coatings are applied to both the exterior and interior surfaces, with the interior coating designed to absorb high frequencies and the exterior coating designed to absorb low frequencies.

The interior features lighting (3,500–4,500 K, 450 lx) and ventilation (up to 30 m³ per hour). The fans use magnetic alignment to reduce friction and noise. Air passes through special silencers, preventing sound from escaping both inside and outside. Power is supplied via a 220 V outlet and a 2.1A USB port.

There are several manufacturers of office acoustic pods around the world, such as the american company “Room”, lithuanian "Narbutas", finnish "Framery", australian "Bureau", american "Poppinpod", ukrainian "Silentbox", etc.

In modern coworking spaces and office environments, office acoustic pods can be made available using the “product as a service” (PaaS) model. Cloud-based solutions are being implemented, allowing users to rent cubicles (by the minute or by the hour) through mobile apps.

Some manufacturers of acoustic pods offer digital services to help customers evaluate equipment before purchasing. These include web-based tools for simulating sound insulation, as well as 3D configurators with augmented reality (AR) support for visualizing the booth within an interior space.

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  Office Acoustic Pod Silentbox Quartet
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  Quartet Cabin
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  Acoustic Pod Silentbox Solo

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  Open-plan office with acoustic pods
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  Acoustic Pod (Amsterdam)
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  Office with Acoustic Pod
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  Acoustic Pod (Spain)
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  Business Center with Acoustic Pods

Music and Announcer acoustic pods

These are specialized booths used for recording podcasts, vocals, voice-overs, and musical instruments. They feature enhanced soundproofing and are equipped with special studio materials for acoustic tuning.

Industrial acoustic pods

They are used in factories and workshops to protect operators or equipment from intense industrial noise.

Reasons for popularity

The Problem of Noise in Open Spaces

According to research in the field of ergonomics, background noise in open-plan offices reduces employee productivity and increases stress levels. Soundproof booths make it possible to isolate sources of noise without having to remodel the building

The Development of a Hybrid Work Model

The increase in the number of online conferences and video calls has created a need for accessible, private meeting spaces within the office.

Mobility and Cost Savings

Unlike the construction of permanent partitions, prefabricated cubicles do not require building permits and can be moved when a company relocates

See also

• Soundproofing
• Sound recording
• Acoustic

External links

• History of Sound Recording – The History of Sound Recording
• Measurement uncertainty of ISO CD 23351-2: Acoustic Performance of Furniture Ensembles and Enclosures in Situ

Category:Sound recording Category:Acoustics