Indoor acoustic comfort is of undoubted importance, but often it is not guaranteed in our everyday living spaces. When referring to impaired individuals, this issue becomes even more important because they may have hyper or hypo-sensitivity to noise. Thus, inclusive spaces in which this topic has been previously examined and modifications have been implemented enables these people to live in a normal way and society to become more inclusive. The European project “SENSHome” aims to develop new design and smart home technologies that can be applied to houses dedicated to impaired people, improving their comfort and well-being. The research is primarily focused on autism rather than disability in general. Thanks to the first results of this project, we will talk about the aspects related to "subjective acoustic comfort investigation" and "acoustic design for indoor spaces" dedicated to people with special needs.
Federica Bettarello, is Research Fellow at the Department of Engineering and Architecture at the University of Trieste (Italy). She has a PhD in acoustics and she works in building and architectural acoustics. Since 2018 she has been researching issues related to smart living spaces for impaired people.
Marco Caniato is a researcher at the Faculty of Science and Technology at the Free University of Bozen, where he teaches Technical Physics for Mechatronics (English Language). His main research focuses on thermal and acoustic properties of construction and building materials as well as building elements. Another focus of Marco’s studies is related to impaired people’s perception of indoor comfort.