Are we ready for advanced noise monitoring?

I’ve always loved sci-fi. The ability to take a glimpse into the future and imagine the possibilities fascinates me.

Advances in technology should make our lives easier, happier and more enriched. The best type of technological advances are those based on these fundamental axioms and which also aim to solve real world problems.

Living close to the central city I am often confronted with unwanted noise which is a negative externality from businesses going about their normal daily functions — be it an airport, nearby construction, late night hospitality or one-off events like concerts. Unwanted noise can also come from other citizens oblivious to, or unconcerned about the impact it has on others nearby.

With the emergence of blockchains with smart contract functionality, we now have an exciting way to automate relationships between two or more parties. Done well, this should benefit all parties to the contractual relationship. This is the premise behind Decibel.LIVE — a decentralized noise monitoring platform.

Decibel.LIVE allows business or property owners to instantly create smart contracts specifying the noise location, the radius (in meters) within which others are able to join the contract, maximum noise readings (in decibels) and payouts should noise exceed these maximums based on the time of day.

We imagine a world where the construction company, aware that noise emitted from their site is an inconvenience, sets up a contract for the duration of their activity. If the noise exceeds an acceptable level then a payout automatically happens to all nearby residents who have joined as beneficiaries to the contract. Does this mean the construction company can be any less mindful of the noise it creates? We think not. The contract could stipulate payouts that are required as compensation or penalty payouts i.e. if between 6–8pm noise exceeds 65 decibels a payout of x is required. These rates should meet the minimum requirements of the local noise ordinance and may even exceed it.

Noise monitoring is done directly by impacted parties using the Decibel.LIVE smartphone app or our noise monitoring unit, which will be sold through our website. This creates a mesh network ensuring reliability with results fed in from various different positions around the noise site.

Can automating noise monitoring help enforce good behaviour? As a landlord or property owner renting a property as a long-term or short-term rental (i.e. using Airbnb or similar) the knowledge that your tenants are incentivized to be respectful helps reduce property damage, complaints from neighbours and will ultimately lead to improved occupancy rates. Decibel.LIVE allows a contract to be automatically created from the outset requiring a “good behaviour” bond from the renter, the balance of which is automatically refunded at the end of the tenancy.

It strikes me as odd in this modern society that we do not have more ways to ensure quiet enjoyment for citizens — this should be a fundamental right for all societies. We hope this movement will start with private business owners and property owners who recognise that social good can also be linked to commercial well-being. Maybe one day we will see local municipalities on board who will also set it as a requirement for all residents in an area thus ensuring peaceful communities — now wouldn’t that be nice…

In upcoming articles we will talk more about our technology and we hope to soon publish a video demonstrating our software.

We would also love your feedback — this is an emerging market space and your feedback will help us to shape the future!

For more information, visit us at https://www.decibel.live and chat with us on Slack https://decibellive.slack.com
(Note: The pictures & quotes above are for illustrative purposes. Our software will go live Q1 2018)