EAR-IT - Experimenting Acoustics in Real environment using Innovative Test-beds

Within the scope of the European research project »EAR-IT«, potential solutions and methods are being investigated that will allow use of acoustic data in intelligent buildings and networked cities for applications in the fields of security, traffic management and energy efficiency. Two test beds from the project Future Internet Research & Experimentation (FIRE) are available for this project. One system is the HobNet test bed in Geneva, Switzerland, for development of interior applications, e.g. determination of building utilisation for energy-efficient regulation of lighting, ventilation and heating. The other test bed is the SmartSantander project in Santander, Spain. This features large-scale networked outside areas where processes for traffic management or detection of security-critical situations are being developed.

Responsibilities of Fraunhofer IDMT

As part of the EAR-IT project, the Oldenburg Branch for Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA is responsible for specification and development of hardware and software for acoustic data acquisition and processing for the existing test environments. The focus is on localisation of sound sources, acoustic event recognition as well as secure and stable exchange of audio and meta data with other system components. The Acoustics department at IDMT is responsible for real-time visualisation of the acoustic data, so-called flow mapping.