Lighter materials have allowed modern cars to maximize fuel efficiency, but they come at the expense of lesser noise-dampening insulation. Which is why many modern vehicles also come with advanced noise management tech, which aims to keep the cabin as calm and serene as possible. A new technology called Road Noise Cancellation uses the active noise cancellation technology we see heavily used among headphones to create a sound-insulated zone inside vehicles.
Made by Harman, the tech will detect and neutralize unwanted noise from the road, keeping them from disrupting the driving experience inside the cabin. From the sound of tires burning the pavement at high speeds to the ruckus of the loud truck over on the next lane, this thing will dull all the noises that can steal your attention away from the road.
Road Noise Cancellation uses a series of accelerometers fitted along the car’s chassis to detect vibrations coming from the road, which it uses to approximate the resulting noise it will cause inside the cabin. With that information on hand, the tech creates inverse sound waves designed to cancel out the noise from the road-induced vibration, all of which come out through the car’s speakers. It’s designed to handle the broadband nature of noise, detecting and counteracting the wide range of frequencies it covers, all while having the capability to identify desirable sounds (e.g. music being played back through the same speakers) in a similar audio range.
Harman’s Road Noise Cancellation is now ready for market implementation, so expect to see it in new vehicles that might come out soon.