Nature sounds, noise filters and enhanced doorbells - how could AI change the way your home sounds?

The new project enabled designers, AI technologists and users to share ideas about the use of AI in the home.

We all know how a blackout blind or a dishwasher would change the way we live. Yet, with AI developing so quickly, it’s difficult for the public to envisage what an AI-powered home might sound like. 

The Surrey team brought AI experts, designers and the public together to share ideas. They used a workshop method called a “world café”, allowing participants to rotate between tables and have a less formal discussion.

Participants suggested a range of ways to improve the audio experience at home. These suggestions led to new ideas for AI technology to improve sounds in the home, including: 

• ‘Sound analysers’ to monitor and identify sounds and learn which the users found pleasant or annoying.  

• Devices to play pleasant sounds in communal spaces, programmed to be heard at certain times of the day.  

• ‘Intelligent ear defenders’ could mask annoyances while enhancing important sounds like being called by name or the doorbell.  

The findings will be presented at the Design4Health 2024 Conference in Sheffield on 25-27 June.  

The research forms part of Surrey’s Institute for People-Centred AI. The Institute draws on Surrey's domain expertise across different disciplines encouraging the creation and sharing of innovative ideas and approaches to foster new research directions and collaborations in AI.