Streaming Fake Ambient Coffee Shop Noise Is Big in Seoul

Recent brain research has shown that the moderate ambient noise of café chatter and espresso machines, in the range of about about 70 decibels, fosters creative work in a way that extreme quiet (50 decibels or less; think library quiet) does not. (Not surprisingly, high noise levels of 85 decibels—a garbage disposal, say, or road traffic—are found to be too distracting, thus reducing information processing). So perhaps it's no surprise that a new website, Coffitivity, is offering to let you stream the creativity-boosting buzz of the local coffee shop right into your home or office.

Coffitivity plays an audio feed of the optimal noise level of clinking cups and people talking. It also makes recommendations on the volume at which to overlay your own music for maximum concentration. Similar sites include Soundrown, which offers a coffee stream on its menu of ambient audio tracks. What Coffitivity also provides, though, is an attempt at community through coffee, with an active Twitter stream and an invitation to share what you’re working on when you plug in.