Acoustics Research Priorities - The UK Acoustics Network

The 20 Higher Order Acoustics Research Priorities are a result of collaborative work between the 16 UKAN+ Special Interest Groups, UKAN+ investigator team and UKAN+ wider community who were given the opportunity to comment on a draft (V4) document in July 2021. This document and priority list were revised in September 2021. The revision includes a majority of the comments made by UKAN+ members.

The Priorities have been assigned to one or more of four themes: Manufacturing and Transport, Sustainability, AI and Wellbeing. Each of these themes has its own ”Acoustic Champions” and Early Career ”Acoustic Champions”. It is proposed that these Priorities should guide applications for explorative (pilot) and knowledge transfer (KT) cross-disciplinary research projects between industry, government, third-sector organisations and academia which UKAN+ will support. These will also guide full-scale grant applications to be developed by our research community in the near future.

Themes

AI
Wellbeing
Manufacturing and transport
Sustainability

Acoustics for health screening and diagnostics

Sounds for advanced automated diagnosis and telemedicine, to quantify baseline parameters and their typical variance with demographic factors in healthy populations and to determine the effect size of disease-sensitive changes. This can include skin-surface and implanted sensor development to extend applications of such sounds to situations where trained operators (of hand-held probes) cannot be present, such as in remote locations, during activities for functional health assessment and during daily life for early detection or disease monitoring.

AISustainabilityManufacturing and transportWellbeing

Acoustics for manufacturing and industry

This priority can include new optoacoustic, photoacoustic, NDT, bioremediation, ultrasound-enhanced cell processing technologies (e.g. for gene transfection, etc.), sound for water treatment, treatment of industrial waste, use of sound for green manufacturing, insect repellent and food processing. New research into AI and sounds for manufacture, inspection and decision-making processes are welcome including that on machine learning to support manufacturing of new acoustic materials, meta-materials, processes and product design.

SustainabilityManufacturing and transportWellbeingAI

Acoustics for new drugs, healthcare products and therapies

Special sounds (including ultrasonic), acoustic instrumentation and sensors to support medicine manufacturing and pharmaceutical industry in general. It also refers to sounds for non-invasive, automated imaging, surgery, therapies and delivery of precision medicines (for humans and animals).

AISustainabilityManufacturing and transportWellbeing

Acoustics for space exploration

This priority should include any developments related to acoustic sensing for extra-terrestrial worlds and spacecraft. It can include the development of new sound and vibration testing facilities for a range of space vehicles and satellites.

AIManufacturing and transport

Acoustics for understanding of climate change

Sounds for large scale monitoring and mitigation of environmental effects for better understanding human and eco-system level behaviours in changing environmental conditions, climate change in both the underwater and in-land acoustic environments. This priority includes applications of acoustics for monitoring of biodiversity.

WellbeingAISustainabilityManufacturing and transport

Adaptive technologies to manipulate sounds

This priority should include research into harnessing emerging technologies (sensors, transducers, beamformers, wearables, immersive audio) to measure noise and soundscape, understand the relationship with health via new noise and soundscape metrics, development of adaptive technologies to transform sounds indoors and outdoors, research into improved acoustics for buildings, understanding the effect of the changing acoustic environment including electrification of transport, pandemic effects, wider working from home and virtual reality (VR). It also can include research into our ability to simulate and reproduce any future sounds accurately via VR, voice synthesis, augmented reality and digital twinning, individually tailored methods of active noise control, improved soundscapes, education and entertainment venues and new musical instruments. Step-change improvements for speech intelligibility in buildings and public places are required.

WellbeingAISustainabilityManufacturing and transport

AI for making sense of sounds

There is a need for new studies into using AI to integrate acoustics sensors with other sensors to improve transportation efficiency, develop automated swarm sonic sensing across scales for infrastructure, machines, processes and agriculture, environment, embedded, wireless self-monitoring acoustic sensor systems and fully automated data analysis and for big data processing from large sensor networks. This research should also include the development of high-fidelity acoustic signal processing and simulations for acoustic detection, construction of representative databases and classification in challenging conditions with limited data. This priority also extends to communication (both human and animal communication), imaging and security acoustic devices. This priority can also include educational research on the ethical use of AI for acoustic benefits.

Manufacturing and transportWellbeingAISustainability

AI for voice control and artificial speech

This priority refers to new AI methods for audio separation and voice identification, voice synthesis and speech enhancement including that in noisy and reverberant environments. This priority extends beyond voice to musical, textural, synthesis and environmental sounds, e.g. extracting accurate music/singing information and converting it into appropriate control protocols, such as MIDI. The use of biosensors that can collect the voice generation information directly on the source (e.g. vocal folds), in combination with AI techniques, can lead to much better understanding of the oldest musical instrument, the human voice, significantly novel solutions in the concept of human-computer interaction.

Manufacturing and transportWellbeingAI

Biologically inspired and intelligent solutions for acoustics

There is a clear need for radically new biologically inspired, ‘zero microphone’ and quantum sonic sensors with biologically inspired sensing and signal processing, intelligent actuators and other smart and miniaturised components for acoustic products.

Manufacturing and transportWellbeingSustainabilityAI

Computer science for acoustics

Computer simulation of acoustics is an essential technology that underpins many of our other research prioritise e.g. to enable virtual optimisation of designs or to train AI systems. But current methods are not sufficient and the frontiers need to be pushed through research in this field too. Bigger problems may require exascale computing or new mathematical approaches. More autonomous solutions in acoustics might require new intelligent computational and data analysis algorithms coded to automatically adapt to different special effects, environmental change and mathematical instabilities. Key applications include virtual acoustic prototypes, digital twinning and machine learning for simulating the noise and vibration impact from machines, structures and devices.

AIManufacturing and transportWellbeingSustainability

Health of acoustics as discipline

There is a need for step-change in education, networking and two-way public engagement on topics of acoustics among the general public, politicians and in schools. There is still a relatively long-time lag between fundamental, applied research in acoustics and non-academic impact from it. There is a particular need to work towards faster adoption of new, more sustainable acoustic technologies and products by clinicians, industry and policy-makers. This includes provision of better education for engineers, designers and architects on the importance of acoustic considerations and new technologies for spaces and products that suffer from debilitating acoustics. This can be achieved by strengthening the link between pure analysis, applied acoustics research and knowledge transfer and via the more efficient development of better acoustic courses, standards, practices and legislation. There is a need to address EDI issues, to make the UK acoustics community an environment that is attractive and supportive to the widest talent pool, for example to address underrepresentation in our discipline of many ethnic groups and women. New ethics and responsible innovation issues emerge from the advance of AI and need addressing.

Manufacturing and transportWellbeingAISustainability

Hearing devices and technology

Modern treatments for people with hearing and hearing related problems only partly restore the ability to understand speech in realistic, noisy environments, and the subjective experience of devices is often poor. We require greater understanding of the underlying problems, and to address those through development of individually optimised, hearing-loss friendly solutions which maximise the possible benefits of technology. Solutions will likely involve precision engineering of wearable hearing and communication technologies, integration with mobile devices, brain-interfaces (e.g. EEG), and modelling and context-sensitive AI to remove background noise and boost attended sound, improve intelligibility and conserve power. In the longer term, the development of new pharmacological, genetic solutions and next generation implanted devices are all likely to contribute to improve hearing health.

SustainabilityAIManufacturing and transportWellbeing

Hearing and brain

From physiological and psychological points of view we lack understanding of age-related decline in the functioning of the inner ear, ageing brain, perception of sound and their connection with communication problems. There is a need to understand better through advanced measurements and simulations the link between hearing and brain, auditory and cognitive processing and mechanisms of tinnitus. Research is needed to develop 3D media technology and artificial sound sources for ageing society including the use of positive sounds to support brain function, healthy aging and aural diversity community.

Manufacturing and transportWellbeingAISustainability

Impact of noise on mental and physical health

Despite almost a century of research into this topic there is still a lack of understanding of the impact of noise on mental and physical health for diverse age, culture and ethnic groups. There is a pressing need for further research and quantification techniques to increase understanding of the health impacts of environmental noise and to drive policy change, in order to improve public health and reduce inequalities. There is also a clear need to include in this research the value of acoustic tranquillity, especially in urban areas, and the restorative benefits of green spaces on health and wellbeing.

SustainabilityAIManufacturing and transportWellbeing

Impact of sounds on wildlife

With the increasing anthropogenic activities it is essential to develop enabling technologies for measuring the animal response to sounds and, in particular, to understand the impact of underwater noise on marine habitat, together with effectiveness of noise abatement technology. This priority also includes the development of bioacoustics and ecoacoustics approaches to help tackle the biodiversity crisis at sea and on land.

SustainabilityManufacturing and transportWellbeing

Mathematics for acoustics

Mathematics will continue to underpin acoustics and there is a need for more work to solve specific mathematical and numerical problems in acoustics using, advanced analysis, machine learning and AI. There is a need to develop a unified mathematical theory for all aspects of acoustic environments at all scales, particularly for the underwater world. There should be higher emphasis on the underpinning common challenges in mathematical and physical acoustics. There is a need for a unified mathematical theory for all aspects of acoustic environments at all scales to include all acoustic phenomena, such as propagation through and within bounded and complex media which may be nonlinear and viscoelastic.

AISustainabilityManufacturing and transportWellbeing

New methods for noise control

New fundamental physics related to noise generation through traditional methods of vehicle propulsion (land and air) is required to develop and adopt novel methods for noise reduction. The focus should also be on novel methods for noise reduction and improved sound quality from emerging transportation platforms including electrical cars, UAVs, supersonic planes and high-speed trains without compromising safety, autonomy, speed and efficiency reducing the noise impact of developing Net Zero energy systems on land, air and underwater. Also, it is required to research into mitigation and reduction of impacts of unwanted sounds (noise) from existing anthropologic activities and new infrastructure developments such as manufacturing, agriculture, transportation. A step-change in the prevention of noise induced hearing loss from the young to old is required.

AISustainabilityManufacturing and transportWellbeing

Quieter marine propulsion technologies

This research should be focused on quieter vessels and drones operating at sea, particularly on novel mechanisms of propulsion which are a step-change in terms of the reduction in their noise signature.

SustainabilityManufacturing and transport

Sustainable acoustic solutions

As a part of the Net-Zero initiative there is a clear need for manufacturing of acoustic materials from sustainable sources and methods, more efficient use of materials and machines for improved life including meta-materials, safety and functionality and for the adoption of modern methods of construction (MMC) which include sustainable acoustics solutions, e.g. better and more sustainable room acoustics quality and insulation. As a part of the Net-Zero initiative there is a clear need for manufacturing of acoustic materials from sustainable sources and methods, more efficient use of materials and machines for improved life, safety and functionality, materials passport platform or circularity material passports that allow to an engagement with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a sustainable acoustics solution, more sustainable room acoustics quality, insulation and ventilation.

WellbeingSustainabilityManufacturing and transport

Understanding of soundscapes

Despite a significant global effort there is still a lack of understanding of the role of soundscape, its perception and proper implementation in the new industrial era and through climate change. There is a need for further holistic, qualitative research approach to soundscape is required to include climate change, air quality and other societal changes including the pandemic and mental and physical health. This work should lead to new research into the practical implementation of soundscapes which includes adding, to the already developed humanities studies, an ecological approach through the interdisciplinarity of various disciplines. This priority can be widened to include ecosystems/biodiversity.

Manufacturing and transportWellbeingAISustainability