I can sit beside a loud, choppy sea and feel quite comfortable. Or enjoy a good thunderstorm, lightning and all. A fan running nearby can disappear into the background.
But a quiet baby crying through the wall can keep me awake.
Apparently, my nervous system has its own editorial department. The ocean gets approved. The baby becomes breaking news.
Very early this morning, that was exactly what happened. The crying wasn’t loud, but my attention kept going toward it. I put on a fan sound with white noise through the speakers, part of the little setup I’m building in the bedroom.
A low level was enough to completely mask the crying for me. I went back to sleep.
Such a small thing. But being able to go back to sleep is a fairly substantial feature at that hour.
The sound that keeps asking
I’m beginning to notice that volume alone doesn’t explain what bothers me.
A steady sound can leave me alone. An intermittent one keeps asking for attention. A thump, another thump, then a pause. Has it stopped? Should I prepare for another?
Perhaps it’s a child kicking a wall at two in the morning. I don’t know. From my side of the wall, I’m getting the percussion section without the programme notes.
The room can become quiet while some part of me is still listening.
That’s what I want to experiment with: a little more control over what gets access to my attention.
A motorcycle in an echo chamber
Today I had another example down in the garage.
A guy revved his motorcycle in there. Everything echoes in that space, so the sound had plenty of opportunities to introduce itself.
I was wearing my AirPods Pro and listening to music. The noise cancellation reduced some of it, but plenty still came through. Then the music automatically became louder, and I could hear it clearly again.
Between the cancellation and the music covering more of the noise, I came through it without feeling frazzled.
The motorcycle carried on being a motorcycle. I had a useful buffer.
A little weather of my own
Fireworks are harder for me. A sudden boom can bring an immediate fear response connected to past experiences.
I’ve been wondering whether a boom could trail into a rumble of thunder, followed by steady rain that makes the next explosions stand out less.
A little weather of my own.
That is an idea to test. A system reacting after an explosion cannot take back the first sound that has already reached me. Perhaps rain already playing, or continuing afterward, could help me settle. I don’t know yet.
And someone else might find thunder thoroughly unhelpful. Their ideal setting could be my worst setting.
Which is why the person needs the controls.
Spain puts autonomy into the picture
This connects with something larger happening here in Spain.
A new law reforming Spain’s disability and dependency legislation explicitly includes applied AI, connected devices, home automation and robotics among the technologies that can be used in teleassistance. It places emphasis on people’s wishes, independent living and support in their homes and communities.
The law takes effect on 23 October 2026. Available services will depend on further implementation. We haven’t all been issued a household robot. Mine still requires me to do most of the assembly.
But the direction catches my attention because it connects with what I’m building: an adjustable buffer around me.
In the past, I’ve experienced medication leaving me feeling as though I couldn’t feel anything. I don’t want that experience again. I want to enjoy music, attend my classes, be around people and feel my life.
AI and, eventually, robotics interest me for what they might help a particular person do. Everyone has different difficulties. Sometimes even explaining the difficulty is difficult. Useful support should help us express our preferences, try adjustments and keep making our own choices.
This morning, my version of that was a speaker playing a quiet fan sound.
No grand technological revelation.
I went back to sleep. That’ll do.
Leave a Reply