Origami Echo: Adaptable Acoustics

Classrooms often function as multipurpose spaces for educational activities and events, such as musical performances and presentations hosted by campus organizations. Poor acoustics in these environments can affect speech intelligibility and diminish auditory experiences. Origami Echo addresses these challenges through adaptable acoustic panels and a human-robot interaction (HRI) element-a magic wand interface. The system, inspired by active and variable acoustic principles, allows users to dynamically modify the sound profile of a room, ensuring seamless transitions between diverse applications. Using intuitive gestures with the wand, users can interact with the system while achieving acoustic optimization. Through a Research-through-Design (RtD) approach, the project demonstrated a 25 percent improvement in sound clarity and reduced reverberation time from 0.9 seconds to the ANSI-recommended 0.6 seconds.