Our study occurs in two phases:
1. Unoccupied Measurements
Reverberation Time (via Impulse Response)
We will measure the reverberation time of your restaurant by generating a brief loud sound (sine sweep) and measuring the resulting acoustic reflections with a sound level meter. This metric quantifies the reverberance (i.e. echo or liveliness) of your restaurant's acoustics, and can help us quantify how much sound decays between tables. Since these measurements require the generation of a disruptive sound during a period of low background noise, it is strongly recommended that these measurements occur outside of open hours.
Background Noise Level
We will use a sound level meter to measure the unoccupied background noise level in your restaurant. This helps to establish a baseline noise level to be compared to occupied levels.
2. Occupied Measurements
Noise Level
We will place 1 to 3 sound level meters and dosimeters around the establishment to monitor the decibel level throughout the day. The sound level meters can be mounted to an empty table, shelves/countertops, or wooden posts near the perimeter of the dining area. NOTE: No audio is recorded. Only numeric decibel levels are measured.
Number of Occupants
We will place 1 to 6 thermal camera units around the establishment to count the number of occupants in the dining area. Occupants are counted using thermal cameras to keep their identities protected. From the thermal camera images, we cannot identify individual patrons; we can only see approximately how many people are in the restaurant. The camera boxes can be placed on empty tables, shelves/countertops, or wooden posts near the perimeter of the dining area. Ideally, we also would like to place one camera box near the entryway to count inbound & outbound customers.
Alternatively, if you utilize a restaurant table management system which already logs the number of customers in your restaurant throughout the day, we can skip the thermal cameras and acquire the occupancy time history from you separately.
Crowdsourced Noise Level
With your permission: we will leave cards at tables encouraging patrons to download a free smartphone application called SoundPrint. Patrons can choose to take their own noise measurement using their phones, and rate how comfortable it is to have a conversation. Upon request, table cards can be placed somewhere else or skipped.
