Health & Wellbeing

Silent Partner fights snoring noise with a noise of its own

Silent Partner fights snoring noise with a noise of its own
The Silent Partner is claimed to cancel out snoring sounds
The Silent Partner is claimed to cancel out snoring sounds
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The Silent Partner uses a hypoallergenic, medical-grade adhesive
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The Silent Partner uses a hypoallergenic, medical-grade adhesive
The Silent Partner is designed to adapt to different facial contours
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The Silent Partner is designed to adapt to different facial contours
The Silent Partner is claimed to cancel out snoring sounds
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The Silent Partner is claimed to cancel out snoring sounds
The Silent Partner's battery is said to last all night
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The Silent Partner's battery is said to last all night
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Having a partner who snores can become a headache for both people involved. These days, there are several solutions to cure sleep apnea and help people who snore too much. The Silent Partner smart patch takes a different route: it doesn't solve the snoring per se. Instead, it tackles the noise problem.

Silent Partner uses the principle of destructive interference to do its job. In physics, that refers to the interference of two sound waves of equal frequency and opposite phase, which results in their cancellation.

In practice, the new device will pick up the amplitude and frequency of the sound wave caused by the snoring and emit, in real time, a sound wave with an inverted phase.

The company calls the technique "subwavelength active noise cancellation" and claims it leads to a more accurate noise reduction around the snoring person wearing the device, creating a silent zone around them. It is reportedly effective from as close as 20 cm (8 in) away.

The Silent Partner is designed to adapt to different facial contours
The Silent Partner is designed to adapt to different facial contours

The sound emitted by the device is acoustic, so its frequency does not produce any vibrations that could wake the snorer up. Additionally, Silent Partner incorporates an isolation mechanism, to keep its sound vibrations from being transmitted to the body through contact.

The device uses hypoallergenic medical-grade adhesive to keep itself in place over the nose during sleep. The Silent Partner kit contains 14 of those adhesive patches, and each one can be reused for up to a month.

A rechargeable battery similar to the ones used in hearing aids lasts all night. It can be recharged with a mini-USB cable and a standard mobile phone charger.

Silent Partner is currently fundraising on Indiegogo and has already attracted a lot of interest as of this posting. The early bird price is US$59. It is estimated to ship worldwide in November 2016, if all goes to plan.

The video below illustrates how Silent Partner works.

Source: Indiegogo

Silent Partner quiets the snoring noise like magic

View gallery - 4 images
8 comments
8 comments
Timelord
How about a Bane-like mask with acoustic louvers to allow free airflow but damp noise at the same time?
kalqlate
I imagine the device can produce a canceling sound wave. However, I doubt that its tiny speakers can match the amplitude that most snorers produce. The result will be only a slightly attenuated snore.
unclelar
This is really dumb. If you snore too much you have an underlying problem which needs addressing. Could be sleep apnea or something even worse. What happens when you toss and turn? Not that many people would tolerate having this thing taped to their face every night. And I too doubt it would be effective in canceling out loud snoring. Can they make one to cancel out your wife's nagging? Now there's an idea.
wle
cannot possibly work speakers are too small ridiculous at low frequencies and high snore volume = does not work wle
highlandboy
What is really needed is a sound system for the bedroom that neutralises all sounds below a set decibel amount. Though in my experience some snorers can achieve high 70s low 80s at 90cm when affected by alergins or rhino virus. So smoke alarms and child monitors would have to be set quite high.
warren52nz
I wonder if it would work on my wife when she's yakking with her girlfriends. Noise cancellation doesn't have to be limited to snoring.
Crux
Can't possibly work as the phase distance between the sound source and the hearer is much, much too far. Also the power available from the amplifier will be milliwatts only while snoring is in the region of 50 to 70db which is MUCH louder.
There's a long history of devices like this being sold but which don't work. Probably better to get treatment for the snoring instead of spending piles of money on something like that.
DickMeades
just how long am i to wait for this to arrive !! they have had my money for quiet some time now, is it a con !! I'm being told deliver next Year !! not good enough