Noisy New York turns to technology to dial down the volume

Car horns, sirens, drilling, jets overhead and restaurants where diners have to yell to be heard - New York is one of the loudest cities in the world.

But America’s most populous metropolis, known as “The City That Never Sleeps,” has launched a unique experiment seeking to provide New York with the technology to dial down the volume and address noise pollution.

The five-year, US$4.6 million project - the brainchild of researchers at New York University, working in concert with city residents and city hall - is using machine-learning technology and sensors to build a sound library.

The idea is to record the full panoply of noises in the city of 8.5 million residents and use artificial intelligence so that machines can recognise sounds automatically, ultimately giving authorities a way to mitigate noise levels.

“It is like living in the middle of a soccer stadium sometimes,” says Gregory Orr, a filmmaker from Los Angeles who has lived in New York for 19 years.

“Even the squirrels have to chirp louder in the city in order to be heard over the din,” he jokes.