Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
MIT Conversation Shielding Like Cone Of Silence
Distributed acoustic conversation shielding is the subject of a new patent by MIT Media Lab researchers. The device is designed to protect the privacy of spontaneous workplace conversations with sound from distributed loudspeakers. The units could be disguised as power strips.
(Conversation shielding 'power strip' [pdf])
This usage scenario is taken from the earlier paper Distributed Acoustic Conversation Shielding: An Application of a Smart Transducer Network by Yasuhiro Ono*, Joshua Lifton, Mark Feldmeier, Joseph A. Paradiso.
An office worker happened to meet one of his colleagues, a team member of a project, in the open space of their office area, and they started to chat about their project. He noticed that the content of the conversation was getting rather confidential to people outside their team. He pushes a button on his mobile device to trigger the acoustic conversation shielding application, at which point, various speakers surrounding them start to emit a masking sound to prevent others from overhearing the conversation. When the conversation is over, he pushes the button again to stop the masking.
Here's a prototype version of a conversation shielding wearable controller.
(Conversation shielding wearable controller [pdf])
They actually tested this idea with a network of 12 units, about two meters apart, with some success. The masking sounds decreased the signal-to-noise ratio by 5-10 dB at each location.
Science fiction readers (and television watchers) find this idea familiar. Most of us recall the cone of silence made famous in the Sixties television show Get Smart. Take a look at this commercial which shows the cone of silence in use.
(Cone of silence in Get Smart)
Perhaps more specifically, Frank Herbert used the term and the basic idea and the term cone of silence in his 1958 short story Cease Fire.
SF readers also recall the Fenton silencer from Arthur C. Clarke's 1957 story Silence Please.
It consisted of a microphone, a special amplifier and a pair of loud speakers. Any sound that happened to be about was picked up by the mike, amplified and inverted so it was exactly out of phase with the original noise. Then it was pumped out of the speakers, the original wave and the new one cancelled out, and the net result was silence.
(Read more about Clarke's Fenton silencer)
A year earlier, Robert Heinlein wrote about a hush corner in his 1956 novel Double Star.
Sometimes such facilities in public places like hotels are not all that they might be; the sound waves fail to cancel out completely. But the Eisenhower is a luxury house and in this case, at least, the equipment worked perfectly; I could see their lips move but I could hear no sound.
As far as I know, the earliest use of the cone of silence term and idea occurred in a 1955 episode of Science Fiction Theatre entitled "Barrier of Silence."
From Distributed Acoustic Conversation Shielding: An Application of a Smart Transducer Network [pdf] and Distributed Acoustic Conversation Shielding System [patent application]; via New Scientist.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/10/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.' - Frank Herbert, 1958.
Chinese Aircar Light And Airy, Not For Blade Runners
Daytime version.
The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel
'If you surf over a bump, the spokes contract to roll over it.' Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Transporting Antimatter
'...drawing plans for the magnetic tongs and bed plates and relays.'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
'The population of Castle Hagedorn was fixed...'
Project Silica Offers 'Long-Term' Digital Storage
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'
Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'
Crystalline Structures In Space, You Say?
A massive space borne lifeform from ST:TNG.
Garçon! A Menu For Artemis II, S'il Vous Plaît
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'
Amazing Photonic Crystal Light Sail
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'
Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.
Rogue AI Replicated Itself
'Sapiro’s computer just kept dialing at random, hanging up on humans, until it got a fellow computer of the same type as itself.'
HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
When AI Takes Its First Breath
Any suggestions?
Chinese Aircar Light And Airy, Not For Blade Runners
Daytime version.
The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel
'If you surf over a bump, the spokes contract to roll over it.'
Transporting Antimatter
'...drawing plans for the magnetic tongs and bed plates and relays.'
Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
'He wrote on it, using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger...'
