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Status: current project, 24 months (February 2024 to January 2026). The overall goal of the noise footprint framework is to understand the impact of human activities on the environment, to track progress towards reducing noise pollution, and improving environmental sound quality through soundscape interventions.
Status: current project, 24 months (September 2022 to August 2024). This research aims to explore and analyze the potention of different sustainable sound absorbers to enhance acoustic comfort and speech intelligibility in noisy office rooms.
Status: current project (January 2022 to September 2025). This project is carried out by the RWTH Aachen University in cooperation with the TU Berlin. The aim of the project is to create a method for inverse source characterization of complex, moving traffic noise sources and its application in the auralization of urban environments.
Status: current project (January 2022 to December 2024). Funding of a listening studio and a psychoacoustic assessemt tool for improved acoustic environments.
Status: current project (February 2022 to February 2024). The aim of the project is to describe urban acoustic environments in a metropolitan region using physical-acoustic approaches (soundscape ecology & psychoacoustics) in order to be abel to describe the acoustic quality of urban spaces beyond noise.
Status: current project (duration 3 years, January 2021 to December 2023)
This project is being carried out by TU Berlin in cooperation with University College London. The aim of the project is to build a worldwide network that systematically and transparently collects examples of soundscape interventions and innovative noise protection, as well as the creation of a common knowledge base that professionals, urban planners and municipalities can rely on in future urban planning. The project will help to increase the health-promoting potential of acoustic spaces and stimulate measures to improve the acoustic environment worldwide.
Status: current project (duration 3,5 years, October 2020 to March 2024)
This project is carried out at the Institute of Technical Acoustics of the RWTH Aachen University. In order to support the execution of sound-quality hearing experiments in general, a stable and reproducible technical basis will be developed in the form of a documented sequence of actions for the creation of audiovisual VR test scenarios.
Status: Contract signed, the selection of candidates to be invited took place in October 2017. The call was accepted and the professorship began in September 2018. Duration 6 years.
The professorship is intended to offer cross-disciplinary research and teaching courses in the field of environmental psychology, for example concerning human noise sensation. The special aim of this professorship is to link the field of psychology with the field of natural and engineering sciences.
Status: Guest professorship. A one-year visiting professorship has been established for 2019. A five-year visiting professorship has been established for the years 2020 to 2024.
The tasks of the professorship are the study of the psychological and physiological effects of sound (also infra- and ultrasound) on humans, as well as the development of technical possibilities of noise control and personal hearing protectors based on electronic methods.
Status: current project (school year 2018/2019, extended for the school year 2019/2020 and 2020/2021)
Since the school year 2015/2016, the health shop München e.V. has a copy of the alD’s noise case in Munich. The financial support of the HEAD-Genuit-Foundation serves the implementation of the project by the deployment of specialists.
The HEAD-Genuit-Foundation regularly supports the annual Best Paper Awards in the EAA Young Acousticians Program of the European Acoustics Association with funding of EUR 2,000. The funds will be used to award prizes for outstanding contributions presented by young scientists at EAA conferences.
Our foundation supports the work of the German Society for Acoustics e.V. through a membership of EUR 957.00. Support is planned to continue in the following year.
The presentation of one’s own research projects at international conferences and participation in international conferences is an important building block in the scientific career. The HEAD-Genuit-Foundation grants travel scholarships for the active participation of scientists and doctoral students in the field of acoustic and pain research at congresses abroad as well as lecture trips abroad. To date, participation in the conferences „Aachener Akustik Colloquium 2017“, Acoustics ’17 in Boston and INTERNOISE 2017 in Hong Kong have been supported in the amount of EUR 3,713.75.
The European Competition „Sounds of my place“ for school children, held as part of the event „INAD 2017“ (International Noise Awareness Day), is funded by the HEAD-Genuit-Foundation with € 1,000. Children of European countries should be given the opportunity to raise awareness of the sounds and sounds that characterise our landscapes and soundscapes in Europe. These can be either everyday sounds that form the background of our daily lives, or the sounds of certain places that are to be made known and preserved.
On the occasion of the „International Noise Awareness Day 2017“, the Foundation has sponsored several small workshops for children entitled „Noise Detectives – The Sound on the Trail“, as well as the printing of an information brochure „Noise in Everyday Life“.
The HEAD-Genuit Foundation provides funding for the „Mechanics of Hearing 2020“ conference.
The company Vie en.ro.se. Ingegneria from Firenze is supported by the HEAD-Genuit-Foundation in the project „Noisella Short Stories“, the creation of a short film and the project „International Year of Sound 2020“.
The association Handiclapped-Kultur Barrier-Barrier e.V. is supported by the HEAD-Genuit-Foundation with EUR 5.000.00 for the performance of a concert within the framework of the International Year of Sound and with EUR 10.000.00 for the holding of the congress „Live Music and Inclusion“.
Status: completed project (duration 20 months, January 2021 to August 2022)
The overall objectives of the project are to gain insights into the effect of electric bicycle noise on humans (for both drivers and outsiders), to enable a perception-based assessment of the acoustic comfort of electric bicycles, to provide information on the acoustic quality of electric bicycles to the public and thus to contribute to a more pleasant and healthier acoustic environment.
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Status: completed project (duration 30 months, July 2020 to December 2022). This research project is carried out at the Institute of Technical Acoustics of the RWTH Aachen University. The aim is to explore the methods and algorithms for creating real-time virtual acoustic environments in VR/AR environments for the proposal of Soundscape research and for future potential applications in soundscape design and soundcape management. Furthermore, the effects of cognitive factors of the soundscape, in particular the human spatial creation of objects/sources (e.g. through spatial hearing), on the emotional reactions of humans will be tested.
Status: completed project (July 2020 to December 2022). The aim of this research project is to show that a sour, personalized acoustic environment can affect the well-being of people with dementia. Acustical-Clinical will examine in detail the benefits of a specially adapted soundscape for residents and staff of a facility for dementia sufferers, with regard to evening relaxation, sleep and morning treatment. In contrast to previous work by the same working group, Acustical-Clinical aims at a more precise follow-up study of behavioral observation and bio-monitoring of selected individuals with moderate to severe BPSD (Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia). This includes people with an NPI-Q value > 20 (Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire).
Status: completed project (duration 1 year, May 2020 to April 2021). This one-year research project is carried out at the Institute of Technical Acoustics at RWTH Aachen University. It is a follow-up project to „Buidling-acoustic auralization test environment“.
Status: completed project; 2 years (January 2020 to June 2022). This current proposed research will focus on a range of emotions that people feel about the sound-healthy environment, which could largely depend on the environment. This research will systematically examine the influence on them of a number of psychoacoustic (sensations war-taken by the human hearing system) and cognitive (e.g. semantic) factors. It will be examined through a series of laboratory-based subjective hearing tests of the recorded sound environment, based on studies in multiplier disciplines, including linguistics, psychology, neurobiology, sociology and philosophy. This research will also develop an automatic sound source detection method to enable the direct application of the research results of these and many other sound landscape studies.
Kettering University in Flint, USA is financially supported by the HEAD-Genuit Foundation for the renovation of an acoustic laboratory room and the purchase of various measuring instruments.
Status: completed project; 2 years (April 2018 to March 2020)
As a follow-up to the project „Beyond the noise: Open Sources Soundscapes“, this project aims to achieve the following goals:
Increasing and maintaining citizen participation (Citizen Science Communication Campaign)
further exploration of identified quiet areas
Creating a framework for EU/US policy and, at best, noise reduction and soundcape planning
Development of guidelines and regulations on urban planning in Berlin
Status: completed project (duration 3 years and two months, March 2017 to April 2020)
This three-year research project is being carried out at the Institute of Technical Acoustics at RWTH Aachen University to create an interface between psychoacoustic research and sound attenuation in buildings. It aims to create an interface between psychoacoustic research and sound insulation in buildings. Building on existing preparatory work, this project focuses primarily on designing and evaluating an efficient network of filters based on standard sound proofing metrics for calculating transfer functions for complex components. These filter networks allow the calculation of sound transmission paths from the moving source to the receiver in complex scenes for interactively varying architectural structures as a useful tool for the final auralization chain.
Status: completed project; 2 years (January 2018 to December 2019)
People’s response to and evaluation of external stimuli is influenced by their emotional state, which varies according to their social and cultural background, age, mood, personality, state of mind and other factors. This research aims at the analysis of the human „external“ emotional state of mind (i.e. emotions influenced by external factors). The scholarship will be extended by two years under the title „Influence of Acoustic Environment on People’s Emotions“ (January 2020 to December 2021).
Status: completed project; 3 years (December 2016 to November 2019)
On the one hand, ASAsense’s research project aims to create a framework for the creation of a standard (sound label) for immersive measurement and reproduction of urban soundscapes in the context of human perception. The second objective of this project is to demonstrate the use of immersive audio-visual recordings in the assessment of the perceptual impact of acoustic intervention and planning measures. For this purpose, at least 40 measurement locations in the 10 selected cities worldwide will be examined.
Status: completed project (duration March 2017 to February 2023)
According to the latest findings of the research, it is currently unclear whether currently used measurement and evaluation methods are valid and correct for children at all due to physiological and psychological differences with adults. This research project of the RWTH Aachen University is therefore concerned with the attempt to create a sound approach for the measurement, analysis and evaluation of noise exposure in kindergartens and primary schools using sound and child-friendly procedures.
Status: completed project (August 2016 to June 2018)
Past studies have shown that hearing experiments, for example in classrooms in schools or kindergartens, are not practical for many reasons. Other groups of subjects (workers, older persons) are also often very difficult to obtain for psychoacoustic hearing experiments for noise research. The aim of this research project is therefore to be able to carry out psychoacoustic experiments with subjects (e.g. children or seniors) in an uncomplicated and on-site manner. For this purpose, the conversion of a caravan into a mobile hearing test laboratory has been carried out.
Status: completed project, June 2016 to July 2022
The research project is carried out by the Institute of Technical Acoustics of the RWTH Aachen University. The aim of the research is to develop spatial reproduction methods that enable the reproduction of acoustic scenarios for research purposes that is as realistic as possible by using audio-visual technology. The technology to be developed should be as interactive as possible and individually adjustable to the subjects. The project is planned for 6 years and 2 months.
Status: completed project (project end of December 2017, cost-neutral extension of six months for data analysis were approved until the end of June 2018)
The HEAD-Genuit-Foundation has awarded a scholarship for the study of noise perception in historical places in Germany and Greece. A) the soundscape in antiquity, b) the original function of the historical locations due to their acoustic relationship to the environment, and c) the possibilities for developing new forms of psychoacoustic soundscape studies to identify links between the historical interpretation of the website and the sonic experience of contemporary visitors.
Status: current project, (October 2023 to September 2028). In view of the future demographic change with increasing aging of society, an increase in pain disorders is to be expected. However, since it often takes several years before specific pain treatment is given, chronic pain is promoted or even caused. However, the reductionist understanding of chronic pain that prevails in medicine today does not take into account that chronic pain cannot always be localized on the body, which makes it difficult to define and treat the pain clearly. Therefore, this study tries to ask about the possibility of a constructive relationship to chronic pain and to work out the further development of new pain models and strategies for pain management. This is intended to make an indirect contribution to better pain management in the healthcare system.
Status: approved, duration one year and six months (01 March 2019 to 30 June 2020). The HEAD-Genuit Foundation provides financial support to the Vigdis Thompson Foundation in the development of a data register for patients recruited worldwide with all forms of leptomeningopathy. There is a follow-up project for one year and six months (July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021). The project is expedted to continue until December 31, 2024.
Arachnopathy is a disease of the spider tissue skin, i.e. the skin that surrounds the spinal fluid (liquor). If this skin is chronically inflamed, there is a disability of the cerebrospinal fluid circulation and the restriction of movement of the nerve strands. These limitations cause chronic pain in the lower back, as well as tingling, numbness or weakness in the legs. Since the symptoms of herniated discs can be the same, a misdiagnosis can easily occur. The foundation supports individual cases whose health insurance companies do not cover treatment costs for acute pain relief.
Often, costs for assistance, such as the installation of a much-needed home emergency call, or a vehicle conversion to transport electric wheelchairs to maintain the patient’s mobility, are not covered by the health insurance funds. The HEAD-Genuit Foundation grants the support of such expenses in individual cases, after consultation with the applicant and his health insurance fund. The aim is to improve the quality of life for patients with chronic arachnopathy.
Status: completed project (October 2016 to October 2018). Our Board of Directors has approved the promotion of a study by the German Society for Osteopathic Medicine. The study explores the more precise relationship between vegetative and central nervous system with regard to the possibility of specifically influencing the body’s own frequencies in the vegetative nervous system. The findings of the study are intended to enable pain therapists to alleviate disease symptoms by specifically influencing their patients‘ vegetative nervous system, as well as to research psychoacoustics, which deals with the design of an environment that is perceived as pleasant and stress-free for humans.
Status: completed project (August 2020 to July 2021). Funding for the scientific research study was granted for a period of 12 months.
Status: completed project (July 2022 to September 2023). Funding for the scientific research study was granted for a period of 15 months.
Status: completed project, duration 2 years and 9 months (July 2019 to March 2022). This project is a follow-up project to item 2 „New Perspectives on Chronic Pain“. By means of a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between society and chronic pain, this project aims to work out why chronic pain is not treated in a socio-theoretical way.
Status: completed project, (July 2017 to June 2019). In view of the future demographic change with an ageing population, an increase in pain disorders is to be expected. However, since it often takes several years for specific pain medicine treatment to take place, pain is favored or even caused. However, the reductionist understanding of chronic pain that prevails in medicine today does not take into account the fact that chronic pain cannot always be localized on the body, which makes it difficult to define and treat pain clearly. Therefore, this study tries to ask about the possibility of a constructive relationship to chronic pain and to identify the further development of new pain models and strategies for pain management. This is intended to indirectly contribute to better care for pain in the health sector.
Status: completed project. Funding for seminars on „Living with chronic pain“ for doctors, medical professionals, volunteers and self-help groups. The seminars are organised and organised by various institutions and bodies. The aim is to develop new perspectives and forms of conversation for dealing with pain patients. A special question here is how to listen to the pain patient and encourage him to deal with his pain and to cultivate his feelings and energies without attacking his own resources as a caregiver or doctor or no longer perceiving the patient as an individual.