SMILE¶

SMILE: Ljudlandskapsutformning med Metamaterialinnovation och Lärande
SMILE-乐景工程

Soundscape engineering with Metamaterial Innovation and LEarning is a Swedish Research Council research project led at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2026–2029).

Abstract illustration connecting people, sound, and engineered structures

SMILE explores how human-centred soundscape research and acoustic metamaterials can contribute to better acoustic environments. The project brings together three broad themes:

soundscape perception and evaluation;
physical acoustics and acoustic metamaterials;
computational support for engineering design.

Zibo Liu drives and leads the Swedish Research Council-funded project at KTH. The work develops with support from collaborators and researchers across acoustics, soundscape, and computational design.

This website is the project’s public dissemination space. It presents the overall vision, people, news, and released results. Detailed methods, designs, and unpublished findings will be shared through scientific publications and public outputs when they are ready.

One project, three perspectives¶

Listen to people¶

Soundscape research asks how acoustic environments are perceived in context—not only how loud they are.

Shape sound¶

Acoustic metamaterials use carefully designed structures to influence how sound is transmitted, reflected, or absorbed.

Connect the evidence¶

Modelling and learning-assisted tools support design exploration, while physical and listening-based evaluation keep the work grounded.

The project in motion¶

KTH–UCL workshop

Researchers met at KTH in June 2026 for a soundwalk and a joint workshop connecting soundscape design with metamaterial research.

Read the workshop note

Growing the research capacity

An incoming postdoctoral researcher will join KTH through SMILE and help connect computational acoustics, metamaterials, and evaluation.

See the project update

Around the field

The news page now highlights a small, curated selection of recent research relevant to SMILE, reviewed every two weeks.

Browse the research watch

Explore¶

Project announcement¶

KTH announced SMILE among the projects funded by the Swedish Research Council in Natural and Engineering Sciences. Read the KTH news item.