QuietSpace

Because focus should't be a guessing game.

Inspiration

As students, we often experience a recurring paradigm: we lose a significant amount of time trying to find a suitable place to study or work. We arrive at a room expecting a productive environment, only to discover that it is already overcrowded, fully occupied, or even too noisy to concentrate. This repeated cycle leads to frustration and inefficiency, turning what should be a rudimentary decision into trial and error. In practice, the lack of reliable, real time information about room availability and noise conditions forces students to move between spaces, waste time walking across the campus, and compromise on the quality of their study sessions.

The problem is not just inconvenience, it is a consistent loss of time and focus that undermines productivity and academic performance.

What it does

The system relies on a small, privacy-preserving device placed at the entrance of study rooms and possibly additional units around the space. It combines a microphone/noise sensor to estimate ambient noise with two Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors that detect entry and exit events without using cameras. An ESP32 processes data locally and communicates with our cloud platform, which aggregates and classifies the information for users.

How we built it

The first prototype used an ESP32 development board, ToF breakout modules, and a basic sound sensor on a breadboard. After validating the concept, we designed a compact custom PCB incorporating an integrated ESP32 module, upgraded sensors, and LEDs/buttons to assist installation and allow manual occupancy corrections.

Target-Audience

QuietSpace is designed for universities, libraries, coworking spaces, and any environment where study or work rooms are shared among large groups of users. It provides students, staff, and administrators with meaningful insights into space usage while improving overall efficiency and reducing time wasted searching for suitable study conditions.