Joe Paradiso and Yasuhiro Ono of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have just patented a system for a roving cone of silence, so that you can walk around your office building without anyone ever eavesdropping on you.
The inventors are trying to fix a common problem in open-plan offices: the sound of conversations that carry across the room, making your every phone call into fodder for other people's gossip sessions. So they devised a sound-damping sensor, comprised of an infra-red motion-detector, a speaker and a microphone. These would be scattered around the walls of an office. You can then activate your personal mute button from your computer. The system locks onto you, identifies anyone close enough to eavesdrop, and hits them with a murmur of white noise so they can't hear you.
Of course, the new invention isn't alone. In-office sound masking systems have become popular recently: There's already the Babble and the Accumask, both of which shroud voices by mixing them with randomized noise. But Paradiso and Ono's invention is the only one that has the potential to silence anyone in an office on demand with a single system, while traveling with them as they wander around the office. The downside is that this system requires lots of infrastructure, not to mention the creepiness of having your moves watched by a computer that tags you as a nosey eavesdropper. Do you think the benefits of privacy outweigh the creepy factor?
Related: No Joke: These Guys Really Do Work Out of a Cardboard Box
Related: The Privacy Arms Race Issue 84 | July 2004
[Via New Scientist; image by Adactio]
Related Stories: | Topics:Innovation, Technology, Design, Cone of Silence, privacy, Mute button, Voice Masking, eavesdropper, Sonare Babble, Accumask, Joe Paradiso, Yasuhiro Ono, Joe Paradiso, Yasuhiro Ono, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New Scientist Magazine |
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Recent Comments | 11 Total
May 11, 2009 at 9:45am by Justin Long
Its got a microphone, knows where you are, follows you... what if the same system that mutes you is recording you?...
May 12, 2009 at 1:50pm by Devin Jackson
I'm in acoustics and I hate these systems. Adding noise to an already noisy environment is always a bad. Treating the room so that people don't have to talk as loud does way more for privacy, than adding noise that everyone has to talk over.
May 25, 2009 at 12:19pm by N Moeller
Sound masking systems are well known already and have proven over the last 40 years to be an effective part of overall acoustical design in many environments. In many situations, designing without masking (and relying only upon physical barriers and absorption) is expensive and inflexible, not to mention sometimes impossible... The vast majority of acoustical designers agree that sound masking is a valuable tool.
The two commerically available systems mentioned in the article (full disclosure - one of which my company manufactures) are, in fact, not similar. AccuMask systems work by introducing a comfortable and practically unnoticeable background sound into the space. This sound covers up unwanted noise, which is typically audible due to low levels of existing ambient sound. Babble records and reintroduces a distracting sound formed from short samples of conversations. The first is a 'masking' system; the second is not in the traditional sense.
AccuMask is actually the simpler of our company's technologies. Our new networked system, the LogiSon Acoustic Network (www.logison.com), offers far greater control and flexibility.
A masking system operates by achieving a good balance between effectiveness and comfort. It will be interesting to see how the MIT project addresses this balance, as some aspects of the concept could easily become irritating to users.
July 14, 2009 at 10:07am by Law Blogger
After working in all kinds of corporate offices, I have realized that its almost impossible to have personal conversations with someone else over hearing you. To have complete privacy in offices that usually follow the culture of open cubes and transparency is a feat difficult to achieve. Thanks to Paradiso and Ono's invention that this dream may soon become a reality and i believe its merits far outweigh the downside of creepiness. - denver criminal lawyers
September 29, 2009 at 2:31am by john crew
I hope but is not exist my friend
Andrew
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