about project/

in 2011, the world health organization announced a study – burden of disease from environmental noise. quantification of healthy life years lost in europe. it declares that every year up to 1.6 million healthy years of life (and europe alone was counted) are lost due to the influence of environmental noise. urbanization has had a critical impact on our existence – constant background noise has an extremely negative effect on the human nervous system and can lead to a huge number of diseases. the existing noise standards in many countries and cities, in particular in russia, have been normalized, but are not being observed. the problem of noise is still on the agenda.

it is almost impossible for a modern urban person to "stop the world and get off" – few of us are ready to go into the woods and live in silence. but you can monitor the situation and try to adjust to it. cube lab offers just that – to pay attention to the problem of permanent sound around us and begin to analyze it. analyzing what is happening around us, exploring the environment around us, is the key to a meaningful and healthy existence in the stone jungle today. cube lab is a laboratory for the production of sensor systems for monitoring the environment in private life. the system consists of a main station and three sensors. the station and sensors have built-in noise meters that register the noise environment around it and transfer it to the application. the cube lab system will help you find out what kind of noise environment a user exists in. she will report violations of norms and suggest possible solutions to problems.

cube lab tries to focus not only on private life and aspects of health in it, although this is the main field of research of the laboratory. cube lab also specializes in the general level of urban noise and cooperation with authorities, special organizations and foundations. by collecting user statistics (with their consent), cube lab helps the state better navigate what is happening in the online urban reality.

to talk about the problems of the urbanized world and ignore the problem of overconsumption, environmental pollution and huge garbage mountains would be hypocrisy on the part of cube lab. therefore, the sensors are assembled in an attempt to minimize the negative impact on these aspects. the sensor housing is made of recycled plastic for 3d printing, the microphone heads are reassembled and reused, the boards are remelted, and the batteries are assembled in the laboratory for further processing. it is worth noting that the parts are assembled mechanically, on staples, or by welding – cube lab does not use synthetic glue.

cube lab's user privacy is extremely important. the sensors are technically impossible to use as a means of eavesdropping – the recorded sound on the spot is converted to decibels, not to an audio band. cube lab does not collect information about their owner that is unnecessary for the operation of sensors. a phone number and nickname are sufficient for use. cube lab does not collect information about your location without the user's interest in it.

nevertheless, despite the rather impersonal use of sensors, the laboratory wants to communicate with you through other things - lectures, open schools, programs within the urban environment, competitive events. cube lab is positioned as a project open to science, research, and communication. cube lab does not close in on itself and counts on a lively dialogue. you can always come to the laboratory, attend our events, give people a lecture on our platform, or just leave your word by email to us – your message will be found by the addressee.

cube lab hopes for your curiosity, your analysis, and your willingness to act.

about author/

the author is irritable and easily angered. the author loves silence. the author does not know how to work in a loud environment, and if he has to, it turns out badly. the author would be interested to hear how loud his daily environment is. the author loves cities, but does not like constant noise. the author is torn between love and hate for sleeping with an open window: it's stiflingly stuffy and has a headache without it, and it's too noisy because of the roads on the street. the author's windows face the courtyard, but it's still too loud for the author – the author doesn't understand how people live with windows facing the road. the author likes the noise of the city, but only during the day and only on the street. the author likes to ride, but does not like to carry sleds at all.
 
the author really should buy earplugs. even when the author is writing this text in his room, the laptop cooling noise distracts him. the author should buy a quiet air conditioner, it's hot for the author without it, and it's too loud with it. perhaps the author should buy a good mattress so that everything around him doesn't annoy him so much. the author should buy a subscription to a quiet coworking space. maybe the author should buy a sedative. damn, has the author already written that he should buy earplugs?
 
yes, he has. well, even if the author buys earplugs, they will definitely turn out to be uncomfortable. even if the author buys comfortable earplugs, it will hardly be possible to sleep in them. even if he can sleep in them, he definitely won't be able to walk in them on a regular basis... god, the author's dog is barking so loudly! woof-woof! he barks so loudly that not only the author can already hear her, but also the reader… so what is the author talking about? o, right, about earplugs. he can't walk in them on a regular basis because he won't hear the people around you.
 
the author remember that the problem with people around is generally solvable: the author considers noise reduction to be one of the most wonderful invention of mankind and will now tell reader how it works. the author thinks that everything is quite simple – headphones read the noise around and convert the waves from the outside into the opposite direction, then play them back to the person who wears the headphones. sometimes such headphones have a mode that allows the human voice to pass through. the principle is ingenious, but the fastidious author believes that the problem is still unresolved. the author does not know which is better – a headache from noise-suppressing headphones that imitate silence, or a headache from the noise around? does the author and humanity need this imitation of silence? will this imitation bring some help for the author's irritability and grumpiness?
 
the author thinks not. this is self-deception. the author is tired. the author clearly needs real peace, not imitated peace, judging by the fact that the text written by the author turned out to be too inappropriately emotional, and also completely meaningless about the «author». that's what you learned from it, dear reader? and why did you actually read it? didn't you have enough information on the project card?.. what should an author write in the text "about the author"? name? contacts? passport information?..
 
the author is clearly not doing his job well;  after reading the text "about the author", the reader does not even find his name. but in the text (besides the fact that the author seems to be itching to write kind of goofy texts), two things are quite understandable: firstly, the author is incredibly irritable and easily annoyed; secondly, it is crystal clear to the author why he came up with such project.