Noise-Canceling Music: Reducing Noise by Mixing it with Suitable Music

Noise-Canceling Music: Reducing Noise by Mixing it with Suitable Music Hiroki Tokuhisa, Kenta Sato, Kohei Matsuda, Keiji Matsui, Satoshi Nakamura Meiji University

Background • There are many kinds of noise in our daily lives. • Children’s noise • Noise Running Cars • Air Conditioner Motor Noise is a daily frustration factor

Background • There are many troubles by noises. • A man living in Kobe complained of voice of a kindergarten child. [2017 Asahi news paper (Japan)] • Opening of a nursery school has been postponed due to protests from neighboring residents. [2017 Yomiuri news paper (Japan)] • Noise is becoming a social issue.

Preparing for noise • To protect ourselves from noise • Listen to music at a high volume using headphones or earphones. • Use hermitically sealed headphones.

Preparing for noise • To protect ourselves from noise • Listen to music at a high volume using headphones or earphones. • Use hermitically sealed headphones. • They may lead several problems… • Sound leakage • Missing important information

Preparing for noise • To protect ourselves from noise • Listen to music at a high volume using headphones or earphones. A method that removes only • Use hermitically sealed headphones. ambient noise is required • They may lead several problems… • Sound leakage • Missing important information

Changing noise impression If we can change the noise impression from negative to positive, people will not be able to notice it.

Changing noise impression If we can change the noise impression from negative to positive, people will not be able to notice it. Pirates Bravery (Positive) Storm (Negative)

Changing noise impression If we can change the noise impression from negative to positive, people will not be able to notice it. Robot Driving (Positive) Air Conditioner Motor (Negative)

Noise-Canceling Music • A method reduces the sound level of noise by presenting the suitable music. 0. Detecting noise around user and selecting a suitable music 1. Playing the music and changing user’s impression of noise from negative to positive 2. Making it acceptable

Noise-Canceling Music • A method reduces the sound level of noise by presenting the suitable music. 0. Detecting noise around user and selecting a suitable music 1. Playing the music and changing user’s impression of noise from negative to positive 2. Making it acceptable

Hypothesis • Mixing suitable music with noise can • transform negative impression of the noise into positive one • reduce the perceived magnitude of the sound

Experiment To test our hypothesis, we conducted an experiment with 16 participants (7 male and 9 female).

Procedure 1. We presented the participants with noise and music at the same time.

Procedure 2. The music playback stopped and only the noise was played.

Procedure 3. The participants operated system to reproduce the same sound magnitude as when it was played with the music.

Procedure We tested our method about 9 categories which contain noises frequently heard in daily life and selected music that was considered to be suitable for each noise. Category Noise Music 0 Silence 1 Summer Sounds of cicada Summer 2 Car Car Running TRUTH 3 Children 4 Bad weather Strong wind He’s a Pirate 5 Speaking Crowd Moanin 6 Machine Operation 7 8 9 Construction Sound Leakage Meal Silence Children‘s merry voices Air Conditioner Runinning Rock drill Electrical Parade Battaille Decisive Tijo no Hoshi Sound Leakage from Earphone One More Time Mastication Attack on titan

Procedure • The participants were assigned with trials with all the combinations of noise and music in the 9 categories. • 10 noise × 9 music = 90 trials • After the experiment, we asked all the participants to answer the question about “What do you associate with each of the music?”.

Normalization We normalized the evaluation values based on the result of noise in no music (silence) category. Category Noise Music 0 Silence 1 Summer Sounds of cicada Summer 2 Car Car Running TRUTH 3 Children 4 Bad weather Strong wind He’s a Pirate 5 Speaking Crowd Moanin 6 Machine Operation 7 8 9 Construction Sound Leakage Meal Silence Children‘s merry voices Air Conditioner Runinning Rock drill Electrical Parade Battaille Decisive Tijo no Hoshi Sound Leakage from Earphone One More Time Mastication Attack on titan

Normalization • We defined the evaluation value of noise alone as 1.0. • When the value was less than 1.0, it was rated quieter than the noise alone. • When the value was greater than 1.0, it was rated louder than the noise alone. Noise Music Value Normalized value Summer Silence 29 1.00 Summer Summer 25 0.86 Summer Children 34 1.17

Result & Analysis Music Summer Car Summer 0.81 0.89 1.00 1.10 0.82 0.84 0.83 0.97 0.86 Car 1.04 0.85 0.94 0.94 0.76 0.82 0.91 0.92 0.94 Children 0.90 1.05 0.82 1.31 1.24 1.38 1.04 0.97 1.11 Weather 0.88 0.77 0.92 0.72 0.95 0.89 0.81 0.86 0.80 Speaking 0.90 0.90 0.81 0.83 0.91 0.97 0.91 0.95 1.00 Driving 0.82 0.91 0.99 0.93 0.92 0.81 0.82 0.85 0.81 Construction 0.94 0.96 0.97 0.89 0.88 0.91 0.87 0.92 0.91 Leakage 0.97 0.86 0.96 0.95 0.81 0.88 0.99 0.91 0.82 Eating 0.95 0.84 0.74 0.62 1.03 0.79 0.84 0.68 0.76 Noise Children Weather Speaking Driving Construction Leakage Eating

Result & Analysis Music Summer Car Summer 0.81 0.89 1.00 1.10 0.82 0.84 0.83 0.97 0.86 Car 1.04 0.85 0.94 0.94 0.76 0.82 0.91 0.92 0.94 Children 0.90 1.05 0.82 1.31 1.24 1.38 1.04 0.97 1.11 Weather 0.88 0.77 0.92 0.72 0.95 0.89 0.81 0.86 0.80 Speaking 0.90 0.90 0.81 0.83 0.91 0.97 0.91 0.95 1.00 Driving 0.82 0.91 0.99 0.93 0.92 0.81 0.82 0.85 0.81 Construction 0.94 0.96 0.97 0.89 0.88 0.91 0.87 0.92 0.91 Leakage 0.97 0.86 0.96 0.95 0.81 0.88 0.99 0.91 0.82 Eating 0.95 0.84 0.74 0.62 1.03 0.79 0.84 0.68 0.76 Noise Children Weather Speaking Driving Construction Leakage Eating

Result & Analysis Music Summer Car Summer 0.81 0.89 1.00 1.10 0.82 0.84 0.83 0.97 0.86 Car 1.04 0.85 0.94 0.94 0.76 0.82 0.91 0.92 0.94 Children 0.90 1.05 0.82 1.31 1.24 1.38 1.04 0.97 1.11 Weather 0.88 0.77 0.92 0.72 0.95 0.89 0.81 0.86 0.80 Speaking 0.90 0.90 0.81 0.83 0.91 0.97 0.91 0.95 1.00 Driving 0.82 0.91 0.99 0.93 0.92 0.81 0.82 0.85 0.81 Construction 0.94 0.96 0.97 0.89 0.88 0.91 0.87 0.92 0.91 Leakage 0.97 0.86 0.96 0.95 0.81 0.88 0.99 0.91 0.82 Eating 0.95 0.84 0.74 0.62 1.03 0.79 0.84 0.68 0.76 Noise Children Weather Speaking Driving Construction Leakage Eating

Result & Analysis Music Summer Car Summer 0.81 0.89 1.00 1.10 0.82 0.84 0.83 0.97 0.86 Car 1.04 0.85 0.94 0.94 0.76 0.82 0.91 0.92 0.94 Children 0.90 1.05 0.82 1.31 1.24 1.38 1.04 0.97 1.11 Weather 0.88 0.77 0.92 0.72 0.95 0.89 0.81 0.86 0.80 Speaking 0.90 0.90 0.81 0.83 0.91 0.97 0.91 0.95 1.00 Driving 0.82 0.91 0.99 0.93 0.92 0.81 0.82 0.85 0.81 Construction 0.94 0.96 0.97 0.89 0.88 0.91 0.87 0.92 0.91 Leakage 0.97 0.86 0.96 0.95 0.81 0.88 0.99 0.91 0.82 Eating 0.95 0.84 0.74 0.62 1.03 0.79 0.84 0.68 0.76 Noise Children Weather Speaking Driving Construction Leakage Eating

Result & Analysis Music Summer Car Summer 0.81 0.89 1.00 1.10 0.82 0.84 0.83 0.97 0.86 Car 1.04 0.85 0.94 0.94 0.76 0.82 0.91 0.92 0.94 Children 0.90 1.05 0.82 1.31 1.24 1.38 1.04 0.97 1.11 Weather 0.88 0.77 0.92 0.72 0.95 0.89 0.81 0.86 0.80 Speaking 0.90 0.90 0.81 0.83 0.91 0.97 0.91 0.95 1.00 Driving 0.82 0.91 0.99 0.93 0.92 0.81 0.82 0.85 0.81 Construction 0.94 0.96 0.97 0.89 0.88 0.91 0.87 0.92 0.91 Leakage 0.97 0.86 0.96 0.95 0.81 0.88 0.99 0.91 0.82 Eating 0.95 0.84 0.74 0.62 1.03 0.79 0.84 0.68 0.76 Noise Children Weather Speaking Driving Construction Leakage Eating

Result & Analysis Music Summer Car Summer 0.81 0.89 1.00 1.10 0.82 0.84 0.83 0.97 0.86 Car 1.04 0.85 0.94 0.94 0.76 0.82 0.91 0.92 0.94 Children 0.90 1.05 0.82 1.31 1.24 1.38 1.04 0.97 1.11 Weather 0.88 0.77 0.92 0.72 0.95 0.89 0.81 0.86 0.80 Speaking 0.90 0.90 0.81 0.83 0.91 0.97 0.91 0.95 1.00 Driving 0.82 0.91 0.99 0.93 0.92 0.81 0.82 0.85 0.81 Construction 0.94 0.96 0.97 0.89 0.88 0.91 0.87 0.92 0.91 Leakage 0.97 0.86 0.96 0.95 0.81 0.88 0.99 0.91 0.82 Eating 0.95 0.84 0.74 0.62 1.03 0.79 0.84 0.68 0.76 Noise Children Weather Speaking Driving Construction Leakage Eating

Result & Analysis We need to think what participants have associated with music.

Result & Analysis We need to think what participants have associated with music. ? Summer Our Association Participant’s Association

Result & Analysis • Based on the answers to the question, we divided the results into two types depending on whether the association is the same as ours. • We compared the volume evaluation average with the same and different categories.

Result & Analysis • The left figure shows the cases where the associations by the participants were the same as ours.

Result & Analysis • The right figure shows the cases where the associations by the participants were different from ours.

Result & Analysis • Only if the participant association is the same as ours, the sound volume evaluation value of the same category was significantly lower .

Discussion • In our experiments, all participants were Japanese, so we used music familiar to Japanese people. • Similar results can be expected in other cultures as well with the music familiar to them.

Conclusion • We proposed a method called “Noise-Canceling Music” which protects users from everyday noises by mixing the noise with appropriate music. • We conducted experiments and revealed that the noise tended to be evaluated as less obtrusive when it evoked the same images as the music.