Drones more loud and annoying than cars, says NASA

If you get annoyed when drones are flying overhead, now there's research to back you up.

According to a recent study conducted by our friends at NASA, drone noise is more annoying than the sound omitted from any ground vehicle. The findings are part of a broader look into managing low-altitude drones, and suggest there's still plenty more work to be done before these robotic vehicles can regularly fly over busy areas. 

The psychoacoustic research pitted 38 human subjects in a 3D sound environment. Assaulted with a variety of noises, the subjects and their data suggest that on a similar audible level drones were more annoying than any other, especially when taking off.

It's worth noting that subjects were not able to identify just what that irritating whine was, which might suggest that the more familiar with the sound, the less irritated a person will get with it. It's likely that because drones fly slowly, their noise is more annoying than say a car, which typically drives past at speed.

And although we love drones here at AP, hearing (see what we did there) that drones are proven to be annoying might not come across as too much of a surprise to some who are sick of the increasing presence of drones overhead.