Question

Give an example of how diffused reflection can be useful.

Answer 1

Extremely useful in theatres and large auditoriums:


People who design auditoriums and recording studios are big fans of diffuse reflection. Imagine you are sitting in an auditorium, listening to someone play a trumpet. If the auditorium walls are smooth, the sound waves from the trumpet will bounce off the walls with specular reflection. If you're sitting in the right spot, you'll get a blast of intense sound waves as the reflected rays all hit you at once. If you move a few rows back, you might perceive the trumpet as sounding very soft. Specular reflection in an auditorium is not a good thing because different people hear different things depending on where they sit.
In order to break up the focus of the sound, people often use acoustic diffusers. These are wall and ceiling treatments that spread out sound waves by causing diffuse reflection. By engineering different shapes and angles into the walls, we can break up what would normally be specular reflections. Spreading out the sound waves results in a fuller, more uniform sound over the entire acoustic space. You'll often see diffusers inside recording studios and church sanctuaries. This is because diffuse reflection of sound waves sounds much better.