Earlier this week, a group of students visiting from Japan received a day long tour from our Japanese language students, and I had the opportunity to present my acoustics project to them when they visited the energy lab. Although I had to work around some visual difficulties with the big screen and language barriers, I think they got the point of my project. When Ms. Inaba explained in Japanese, they perked up a little, and they seemed to enjoy the graphs I did get to show them.

Today was parents day, so it was a hectic day in the lab. With many families there, I along with the other research students got to have fun touring them around and showing them our coolest technologies. They had a blast with the Human Interface and Juan's drone. I also got to teach my mom about my project. I have tried explaining it to her before, but it was awesome to finally see her get it. Other people were both intrigued and horrified with the sounds I was making.

Today I got my golf cart license for driving at HPA. Now I can transport my equipment anywhere on campus, which opens up my options of research. In my immediate future, I will be using the golf cart to lug my equipment down to the student union to test the hanging sound panels. I also got to fly the drone with Juan today, which was pretty cool because you can see what the drone sees on a wireless connection to the drone's cameras on real time. I finished off class by remaking my quarter one video with a more high quality camera.

Quarter 1 has been a fabulous introduction to undertaking an independent study at HPA. Admittedly, for the first two weeks I was pretty lost because there was a lot going on and a lot of options. I started a little bit of programing, brainwave study, and wrote my proposal abstract mainly on the environmental audits of the campus with Netatmo Sensors. My research took a surprising shift when I started using FuzzMeasure to research acoustics. Luigi had previously used this program to take generalized measurements of a few spaces on campus, but I began to expand his research and develop my own processes. After I had gained a basic understanding of FuzzMeasure, researched the physics and properties of sound waves and boundary behavior, narrowed down my sound equipment (two speakers and a microphone) to the best quality using the frequency response feature, and made these materials portable, I was able to begin taking real classroom data. The first space I have analyzed acoustically is the main room in the Energy Lab. I took measurements, that included frequency response, frequency decay time, and reverberation time, facing my equipment in each cardinal and inter cardinal point in the room. Through this, I discovered that the east end of the room produces the best acoustics because it created the fastest frequency decay and reverberation times as well as a relatively even frequency response. In other words, sound dissipates quickly and frequencies are reflected in even decibels in the East end of the room. I acted on this data by changing the desk formation to accommodate teaching towards the east end of the room, and I put up sound panels that line the desks. This research is important to HPA students and teachers because noise effects concentration and intelligibility. It is crucial for a school to create optimal learning spaces, and I am focusing on improving the acoustics aspect of that. Sydney Bonham will be using an EEG Brainwave Headset to prove that noises do in fact effect the processes of the brain. The end goal of my project is to quantitatively prove with graphical data the sound quality of rooms and to use this data to make improvement to the space's acoustics and thus student learning and teacher efficiency. The next steps in my project are to measure the effectiveness of hanging sound panels, research the possibility of implementing hanging sound panels in the energy lab, push for the use of sound tiles in the reconstruction of the dining hall gym, and to standardize a system of procedures and materials for other schools/facilities to replicate my research.

Today was a super duper awesome day to have an independent. I had the spectacular opportunity to speak to a NASA correspondent and engineer located at the Kennedy Space Center along with Dr. Bill, Sydney Cooper, Alice Patig, and Sienna Levine. We had him on speaker phone while he controlled Dr. Bill's computer. By controlling the screen in front of us, he was able to show us cool aspects from and uses for the NASA's Eyes Program, which we downloaded for ourselves. He also explained some of the projects that NASA is working on currently, like radiation protection, keeping the Voyager alive, and large scale acoustics. We also talked a lot about the Mars missions and how planetary movement and gravitational fields play into space travel for both machines and humans. Another thing we looked at was the exploration of exoplanets and the immense possibility of life somewhere in our galaxy. We went through so much more, but I could not begin to list it all. This conference has fired me up to learn more about space in general, the physics of astronomy, the current projects, and in specific, the discovery of exoplanets in the "Goldie-Locks Zone" that could potentially harness life. I think we are going to have more meetings like this, and I can't wait.

Below is a screenshot from the NASA's Eyes Program

Today I finished putting up the sound panels in the main room of the Energy Lab., and each desk is now lined with foam sound tiles. I looks super awesome and better yet, is useful. They will act as a drain for excess noise in the room, which will increase intelligibility and reduce frequency decay and reverberation time. It is best to put sound absorption panels at head level, but the desks are slightly below this height. Theses lower sound panels, however, are still an improvement to the other sound panels in the room that were placed about 2.5 meters above head level. I also moved the configuration of the desks to accommodate teaching in the east direction of the room. After making the physical changes, I talked to Mr. Mckenna about followthrough with the new position in which he will lecture from. In addition to this, I emailed Mr. Ford about getting golf cart training. The next phase of my project requires me to transport my heavy/bulky equipment down from the energy lab to the rest of campus. For this, I will need a golf cart. I started to carry my equipment down from the Energy Lab, but I got about 200m down the hill and realized it was a terrible and time consuming idea. I will be starting golf cart training on Monday so I never have to try carrying my stuff a long distance again.

Today I finalized the new desk formation I am going to implement in the main room of the Energy Lab in order to accommodate teaching towards the east end of the room, which will as a result increase a teacher's intelligibility. I was able to conclude to my chosen formation by creating a scale model with movable desks. This came in handy because experimenting with the actual desks is time consuming and sweaty work. Also, instead of creating a scale model with the program SketchUp, like I was previously trying to do, I created a physical paper model. SketchUp was difficult to use and made rotating theoretical desks around the room model complicated. A paper model created to scale allowed me to shift desks around easily and get a visual of the space. To make the paper model, I researched the room dimensions from the architectural plans of the Energy Lab and used a measuring tape to measure shelving and the desks. Using these measurements and proportional math, I was able to create the model with accurately scaled down dimensions. After I finished the model, I was able to collaborate with students and teachers to find the best new option for the desk arrangement. The formation we settled on primarily kept the current set up but elongated a line of tables with a desk that would have otherwise been behind where a teacher sits. Below is the model I constructed and the desk arrangement that I am going to implement on Monday.

Today I worked more with Sydney Bonham on incorporating brainwave data into my acoustics research. Together we developed an experiment that would compare a students ability to concentrate in the main room of the Energy Lab before and after changes have been made to improve the acoustics. Both the before and after portions consisted of playing classical music from a set of speakers and Sydney Bonham wearing an EEG Headset to record her brainwave activity while simultaneously playing a simple math game. For the "before" test, music was played from the primary location where lectures are given. Teaching from this location was proven through my previous FuzzMeasure data to create more reverb and thus lessen sound quality. From this location I played classical music on amplifiers pointed towards where students sit. Sydney placed herself in one of the student seats and took brainwave measurements while playing the math game for two minutes. Sydney recorded the video of her brainwaves and her score on the math game. To take the "after" measurements, I faced the speakers towards the east side of the room, which was proven by my FuzzMeasure data to produce the best sound quality. Sydney sat in a student chair at the east side of the room and repeated her brainwave measurements and game as performed in the "before" tests. From this information, Sydney will be able to determine if focus levels were better with changes made to improve the acoustics of the room. In addition to these tests, I began to attempt to rearrange the desks to accommodate teaching in the east direction. I discovered that my original plan did not work because one desk would not have a clear visual of the TV screens that are used as digital white boards. I tried another set up, but the flow was terrible. By the time I finished my second layout, class was over. I moved the desks back to their original positions. I will hopefully find a way to set up the desks on Wednesday. I was given full range of movement as long as each student can see the screens. Also, new double sided tape arrived in the mail, so I can continue to put sound panels on the desks in the Energy Lab.

This week's class time was primarily spent finishing taking FuzzMeasure data in the main room of the Energy Lab. After taking measurements facing each cardinal and inter cardinal direction in the space, I as able to determine that the east side of the room creates the best sound quality and is thus the best direction to face while teaching. With this information I will make adjustments to the seating arrangement of the room, the location from which a teacher gives a lecture, and the locations of the fake plants and sound panels in order to create a more sound efficient space for learning. I would like to repeat this experiment in different classrooms through out the school so that there is a larger number of rooms with elevated sound quality. Often times there is a simple solution to increase the sound quality of a space, such as facing a different direction while lecturing. If I can use FuzzMeasure to locate problem areas through out the school, that will open the door to finding perhaps easy solutions for big problems. Another project I would like to start as a piggyback onto my current research is standardizing a way to test the sound quality of classrooms so that any school can replicate my research and improve their own learning spaces.

Today I started class by analyzing the measurements I had taken with FuzzMeasure in the main room of the Energy Lab. By looking at the FFT, reverberation time, and frequency response graphs of the measurements taken in each direction of the room, I was able to determine that the east side of the room produces the most sound quality. This was concluded because the eastern side had the fastest overall FFT Decay Waterfall, the least reverberation time, and a relatively flat frequency response graph. In other words, sound was absorbed and decayed quickly creating conditions for less reverberation and a relatively even magnitude of each frequency was reflected back from the space. This information can then be used to confirm that teaching in an eastern direction, for this particular room, is the most efficient in terms of sound quality. A decrease in frequency decay and reverberation time will increase a teacher's clarity, and a flat frequency response ensures that certain pitches are not lost or unnecessarily amplified. In light of this, I also mapped out a potential new desk arrangement that would accommodate teaching in the east direction. Below are the graphs I analyzed for the FuzzMeasure Data taken facing east.

Today I finally finished using FuzzMeasure to measure the frequency response time and frequency decay in the main teaching room of the energy lab. In order to find the most efficient direction for a teacher to face while speaking, I sent off frequencies in each cardinal and inter cardinal direction from a fixed point in the center of the room. At the end of this testing, I had a full range of sound data, including frequency response time, frequency decay, and an FFT graph, for each prospect teaching direction. I plan to analyze this data next class, but with the quick glimpse I was able to take, East seems to be the best direction to face. After I was done testing, I spoke to Sydney Bonham about taking brainwave data before I change anything about the classroom and after I attempt to make corrections to improve sound quality. Her brainwave data will hopefully prove that my research is making a positive difference in a students ability to learn. Next class I plan to analyze my new data, map out potential changes to the room.

Today I spent a large portion of class discussing the progress of each individuals research in my class. It was really interesting to hear and see how peoples projects are growing into useful and groundbreaking stuff. After that, I was not left with much time to start taking measurements with FuzzMeasure. I set up my equipment in the main teaching room of the Energy Lab and was ready to take down the rest of the data necessary to make a formal conclusion about the room, but my computer died. That laptop is the only one with the FuzzMeasure Software, and by the time I moved my set up to be closer to an outlet, class was nearly over. I will finish these measurements next class if it is the last thing I do. After packing up my materials, I got a new and more compact battery from Dr. Bill so that my equipment is more portable. I have discovered that despite being independent of a building power source, my equipment can still be cumbersome and difficult to set up in certain locations. I plan to revise how I store and transport my tools.

Unfortunately, despite being very busy this week, I did not get a lot done in the long run. I spent every minute of both of my independent class periods this week applying sound panels to desks in the main room of the Energy Lab. I chose to start putting panels up because the robotics class was using the room and I could not take accurate measurements with fuzz measure while they were present in the room. At first everything was going well. The panels looked awesome and I was interested in the potential difference they were making in the acoustics of the room. Yet, by Thursday nearly every panel had fallen off of the desks and about three hours of work were wasted. I ordered new double sided tape with Dr. Bill and spoke with Zen Simone about how I was trying to attach the panels. I was putting the tape on the desks first and then attaching the sound panels. Yet, Zen brought it to my attention that I should try putting the tape on the panels first and then sticking them onto a surface. I plan to test this on Monday. I would also like to finish taking my FuzzMeasure data of the main room at the Energy Lab next week so that I can present a formal proposal about sound reduction techniques specific to that room to teachers that utilize the space.

Today I spent most of the class period attaching foam panels to the front of the desks in the main teaching room of the Energy Lab. My theory is that although these panels are below mouth level, they will act like a drain for excess noise in the classroom. I was initially planning to spend this class period finishing my measurements of the room itself using FuzzMeasure to analyze different teaching positions, but the robotics class was using the room. Because I did not want to disturb the class with the loud noises needed to take measurements, I ended up putting up the sound panels. I am curious to see if the sound panels make a visual difference in FuzzMeasure frequency decay graphs of the room. I also spent time speaking to Sydney Bonham about her role in incorporating brainwave measurements into an acoustics study and Mr. Mckenna about potentially shifting where he teaches and the desks where students sit in order to optimize sound conditions.

Although I only had two class periods this week to work on my project, I made substantial progress in measuring the sound quality of actual classrooms at HPA. As recorded in my 09/11/15 daily weblog post, I took collected data on two teaching locations in the main teaching room at the Energy Lab. Through the recorded data, I was able to conclude that teaching from the center of the classroom facing east is a more optimal teaching position than sitting in the North end facing the class. In addition, it was found that women's voice, due to higher frequency, would carry better in this classroom than a man with a lower frequency voice. I plan to continue taking measurements of this room from different potential teaching locations in order to find the optimal teaching location. I would like to then work with the teachers who use this classroom to implement position changes and to re situate student desks as needed. In addition, I would like to find the measurements Luigi took of this room and compare them to my own because since Luigi's measurements, sound panels and plants have been placed to reduce reverberation.

Because I am the only person at HPA using FuzzMeasure to examine sound quality in buildings, I am leading my own individual research. However, I will be pairing with Sydney Bonham who is doing brainwave studies with an EEG Head Set. Sydney will take brainwave measurements before and after implementations have been made to improve sound quality. Her portion of this research will provide greater purpose to my research and the data necessary to prove that better sound quality, less reverberation/echo/background noise, improves learning and student focus. Because the fundamental base of HPA is learning, it is important to provide students with optimal learning conditions. Up to date progress of my research includes a basic understanding of the FuzzMeasure software, the organization of my necessary materials (speakers/computer with software/microphone/portable battery), and starting to take measurements of the main teaching room in the Energy Lab. So far, this independent research has been one of my favorite experiences here at HPA. I can practically feel my brain stretching with all of the new things I am learning. I have expanded my knowledge of physics, acoustics, and sound technology in regards to my own research, but that is only a part of it. Studying in the vicinity of other independent researchers has allowed me to get a sense of what they are doing in addition to my own activities. On a daily basis I hear what is happening on Jupiter, examine some coding, and see visuals of the neuron systems in the brain. The environment created by doing independent research in the Energy Lab is unparalleled.