A preliminary experimental study on virtual sound barrier system

Virtual sound barrier (VSB) is an array of loudspeakers and microphones forming an acoustic barrier, which creates a quiet zone without blocking air and light. A 16-channel cylindrical VSB system has been developed and its feasibility is verified by both numerical simulations and experiments. Experimental results in a normal room show that it can create a quiet zone larger than the size of a human head in the low-middle frequency, with a total sound pressure level reduction of more than 10 dB in the quiet zone. The control performance of the system with respect to the frequency, the distribution of the error sensors and the control sources are discussed.