https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220714165811.htm

It was 2020, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, like so many cultural institutions, had suspended performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through P.J. Brennan, chief medical officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Orchestra sought expertise to help understand whether its musicians could return to playing in a safe physical arrangement that would minimize the chances of exposing one another, or their audiences, to SARS-CoV-2.

"The Orchestra director didn't want the musicians to be far apart; they needed to be close together to produce the best sound," says Arratia, of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. "And yet, if they needed to be separated with plexiglass, that also posed a problem." The musicians reported problems hearing one another and poor sightlines with plexiglass dividers. "The challenge was, how can we get away from this to the point where they can play unobstructed but still safely," Arratia says.