The Science of Sound -
Made Simple

Why the office is a distraction and what we do about it.

A - Absorb

Sound needs surfaces to bounce off. Hard floors, glass partitions and rigid walls reflect noise back into a space, amplifying it. Absorbent materials do the opposite - they receive sound energy and convert it to heat, softening it before it can travel.

Airiia’s inflatable structures are built with materials specifically chosen for their acoustic absorption properties, reducing the reflective surfaces that make open offices feel relentlessly loud.

B - Block

The most direct way to stop sound travelling is to put something in its path. Airiia’s air-filled walls act as vertical acoustic barriers, intercepting sound waves before they reach the next desk, meeting space or quiet zone.

Unlike fixed partition walls, our inflatable barriers can be repositioned as your space evolves - giving you the flexibility of a dynamic workplace without sacrificing acoustic performance.

C - Cover

This is where Airiia does something genuinely different.

Complete silence in an office isn’t the goal -
and in fact, it can make things worse. In a very quiet room, every whisper becomes a distraction. The most effective offices maintain a consistent background sound level that masks unpredictable noise without intruding on thought.

Our fans, which inflate and maintain the structures, are engineered to run at precisely 42 decibels - the sweet spot for acoustic masking. This is the same principle behind white noise: a steady, unobtrusive ambient sound that covers conversational frequencies and creates a more consistent sonic environment throughout the space.

The result is a room that feels calmer and more private, even in the middle of a busy day.

D - Divide

Privacy isn’t just acoustic - it’s visual too. The moment you can see someone, you become aware of them. Divide the sightlines and you divide the distraction.

Airiia’s inflatable pods, screens and structures create natural zones within an open floor plan - defining individual focus areas, collaborative spaces and social zones without permanent construction.

Where you put a structure changes how the whole room feels, both visually and acoustically.

ABCD
Working Together

No single principle solves an acoustic problem on its own. A material that absorbs but doesn’t divide still leaves people exposed.

A barrier that blocks but doesn’t cover still leaves the room feeling stark. The power of Airiia’s approach is that all four principles operate simultaneously - every product contributes to absorbing, blocking, covering and dividing at the same time.

The technology is air. The principle is sound.