TU Delft's SenseLabEquipped With ADAM Audio

In spring/summer 2017 the TU Delft finalized the construction of the SenseLab, a laboratory for testing and experiencing indoor environmental conditions.

Research has shown that staying indoors, which people increasingly do, is not good for our health. Therefore, providing a healthy and comfortable indoor environment is very important and subject to the research done at the SenseLab. Among others Prof. dr. ir. Philomena M. Bluyssen (main design and coordination) and Dr. ir. Martin Tenpierik (acoustics) have been responsible for the technical realization of this challenging project and reached out to partners from the pro audio industry for help. Together with our distributor Amptec we equipped the laboratory rooms with four ADAM A77X and two ADAM A7X studio monitors as well as a Sub12 subwoofer.

The studio monitors will be used to create different sounds and combinations of sounds inside the test rooms in order to test how human subjects respond to and experience different loudness levels, different types of sound and different combinations of sounds. The focus will be on the sounds that are generally present in classrooms, offices and healthcare facilities. Furthermore, the interactions between the acoustics, the air quality, the thermal environment and the lighting environment will be part of the investigations.

Students, teachers, researchers, but also the general public are able to experience and test different combinations of environmental conditions. The research performed in the SenseLab will contribute to the development of a new assessment approach, which takes account of the combined effects of stress factors in buildings on people (patterns) as well as their individual profiles, and can be used to determine requirements (to prevent negative effects) and preferences (to stimulate positive experiences) for (re)designing healthy and comfortable buildings.

The SenseLab is built around the four IEQ factors (air, thermal, lighting and acoustical quality) in a room of the Science Centre in Delft and comprises of the “Experience Room” and four test chambers (one for each IEQ factor). In the experience room, it is possible to study the effects of different combinations of environmental conditions in different scenarios by changing the interior design and choice of materials and systems. In each of the four test chambers, several features are present with which the environmental parameter in question can be illustrated and tested. These exhibits will be flexible.