Midmorning With Aundrea - November 18, 2020 (Part 4)

A revolutionary new sound system uses a process called "soundbeaming" to give listeners a rich sonic landscape.

Here's some cool science.

Imagine a world where you move around in your own personal sound bubble.

You listen to your favorite tunes, play loud computer games, watch a movie or get navigation directions in your car - all without disturbing those around you.

That's the possibility presented by "sound beaming," new futuristic audio technology.

Noveto systems plans to debut a desktop device that beams sound directly to a listener without the need for headphones.

The listening sensation is straight out of a sci-fi movie.

The 3-d sound is so close it feels like it's inside your ears while also in front, above and behind them.

The lack of headphones means it's possible to hear other sounds in the room clearly.

Put it on your christmas list - but not until next year.

A smaller version should be available for release by then.

Pandemics in the past have shaped urban environments how we know them today.

Yellow fever led to the boulevards of paris and public parks.

Cholera created london's sewer systems. and covid-19 is certainly not the first real health cris new york city has been through.

Tom hanson has more.

12:01:35 // people are really giving so much thought as to how we can-- how we can rethink every space, you know, from parks to offices, to our houses, to the cities as a whole.

Narr#1 where many people see our urban areas struggling, architectural digest editor samuel cochran sees possibility... sam cochran: 12:01:17 i think it's an exciting time for architects and designers.

No idea is off the table.

Narr #2 cochran believes the next chapter in public health and urban areas is here.

Narr #3 ..he told us, all you have to do is look to the past... tom hanson: 15:16:26 so this street tells a story about public health in new york city?

David favaloro: 15:16:30 i think that's right.

Narr#4 david favaloro runs the new york city tenement museum - founded in 1988& after it had been shuttered for more than half a century.

Tom hanson: 11:01:30 how interconnected are urban planning and infectious disease?

David favaloro: 11:01:35 infectious disease and urban planning are intimately linked.

And// i would go so far as to say one of the core threads that underlies the way we've thought about city building.

Really from the late 18th century to the present has been in the interest of improving-- the cities' resiliency in the face of public health crises tom: your museum actually provides a snapshot of new york city public health, in a way.

David favaloro: 11:02:54 yeah.

// david favaloro: 12:01:51 these buildings have seen everything from yellow fever, to cholera, to tuberculosis, to polio& narr #5 the walls of the tenement museum date as far back as 1863 - when new yorkers lived -- and worked -- in tights spaces david favaloro: 14:08:49 it was not uncommon to-- operate a garment factory making clothing, manufacturing clothing out of your home.

Tom hanson: 14:08:58 making a living in the living room?

David favaloro: 14:09:01 making a living in the living room// they believed that germs like tuberculosis, other airborne diseases, could actually attach itself to a dress like this.

Narr #6 and a toxic combination of poor air ventilation no running water and no proper plumbing made these tenement apartments a ávector for infectious disease to spread& tom hanson: 13:36:43 this was the bathroom?

David favaloro: 13:36:45 this was the bathroom for the entire building: 22 apartment, 22 households, 80 or so people using four outdoor toilets narr #7 with contagious diseases tearing through parts of the us - housing regulations changed their building codes to include access to open air this is the building at 103 orchard street.

//when this was a residence, this airshaft would have provided light and air into the interior rooms of the apartments below us.

Butt to tom hanson: 13:07:17 and that woulda been all the more important with airborne diseases, david favaloro: 13:07:21 right//the light part being the idea that sunlight often can kill bacteria or viruses-- tuberculosis or viruses narr #8 there were also changes made to the interiors of buildings with the 1901 tenement house act, which required windows between rooms. tom hanson: 14:00:01 so this would not have been an original part of the house?

David favaloro: 14:00:04 that's correct.

Tom hanson: 11:54:15 it seems like when it comes to urban planning, we always are reactive.

David favaloro: 11:54:20 i think-- yeah, i think that's absolutely the case.

And that has always been the case.

/ it's an interesting i think conundrum.

How do you be strategic and proactive about public health, about something that's unknown, you know, in some cases?

Narr #9 and in the era of covid-19&áthat's a question architects,, like joe yacobellis, are attempting to answer yet again& his firm, mojo stumer associates, took on designed the interior of áthis major development in long island city just before the pandemic& unique point in that they're having to respond to covid having already finished most of their construction.

11:46:51 finding ways to redesign around the-- the new realities of covid-- they're gonna be one of the first to market to really see how people respond.

Narr #10 the team -- and other architects around the world -- are responding with modern technology.

11:48:21 there are advances in uv light technology that can, you know, help to kill or-- or eliminate the growth of-- of germs and bacteria on surfaces.

There will be advances in air filtration technologies and the number of air changes per hour in public spaces, antimicrobial surfaces-- things like touchless faucets and face sensors and voice activation.

All of those things are gonna help us navigate a post- covid world and be self-safer and be healthier.

Narr #11 cochrhan says using lessons of the past is important to catapult design and architecture into the future& sam cochran 11:36:33 there's gonna be a lot of-- i think, renewed attention and care taken to rethinking these spaces.

And i think-- they'll be a lot of good will towards investing in those spaces for the good of society//so yes, going forward, i think-- i-- i-- certainly-- certainly the build environment, as a remedy for health concerns, is a profound opportunity.

Narr #12 for cbs this morning saturday& tom hanson& new york.