The revolutionary window that could wipe out nuisance noise

But relief is on the way, with the invention of a soundproof window.

Billed as better than double, or even triple, glazing, it uses postage-stamp-sized patches of ceramic to sense incoming sound - and block it out.

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Tests show the design is particularly effective at drowning out the dull, droning din made by planes, heavy traffic, road drills and lawn mowers.

The brainchild of German mechanical engineers, it could be on the market in four years, with mass production reducing the price of an average-sized pane to less than £70.

Tests have shown it works best at blocking out sounds of 90 to 100 decibels - the equivalent of a passing train or nearby lawn mower.

Double and triple glazing is not very effective at stopping such droning sounds. But in tests in the lab, the special glass cut the noise by up to half and in theory could prevent it completely.

On hitting a window, noise usually passes into a building by causing the window to rattle. The new glass creates a second set of vibrations which cancel out the first.

The ceramic patches sense incoming soundwaves and, using a series of wires, transmit the information to a tiny computer. It calculates the vibration and sends back a signal which makes the patches vibrate at exactly the right frequency to make the window rattle in the opposite direction.

If the calculations are just right, the two sets of vibrations should cancel each other out. Researcher Dr Thilo Bein said: "A window acts like a loudspeaker and a membrane. If you control the vibration of the window, you can control the transmitted noise in such a way that it is not acting like a membrane or a loudspeaker."

The noise-sensing patches currently in use are not transparent and so have been embedded in the window frame. However, the researchers, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability in South-West Germany, are confident of developing see-through patches which are just as effective.

In time, the technology could be applied to car windows and windscreens- allowing occupants to talk without raising their voices, even at high speeds. Critics caution, however, that faults could be difficult and expensive to repair.

They also question how quickly the technology would be able to respond to rapidly changing levels of noise, such as that found near airports.