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Targeted Sound Beams
Mr_Kcleen writes: "Wired has a story on using sound beams targeted to only one person. They discuss various uses, from musical performances to possible weaponization." This is another one of those ideas that are right around the corner, really, honest.
Yes, we hear sound in 3d...sort of.
For the most part, (with a few exceptions), most humans are only able to distinguish thing in front of them from things behind them, and its quite easy to prove that we can't guage distance from sound (because we don't know how loud it was at the point source).
However, anyone can train to improve their selective listening skills and achieve more 3d awareness. Its quite a common skill among conductors, musicians, and most of all sound technicians.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
I can see it now, because of security issues all sporting events require facial recognition technology. To offset the cost of implementing the technology the stadiums sell the data to advertisers and lease space for directional sound equipment so they can target ads to specific people in the stadium. Or they could decide to target ads to certain demographics. All white guys in their 40's will get ads for Michale Bolton's greatest hits. Bleh
Cat
There are many more applications of this technology than the article lists:
Multi-lingual Movie Theaters:
Push a button on your arm rest and get the movie in English, French, Spanish, etc. (or in the original Klingon). Pushing the "G-Rated" button on your child's seat would tune out all those nasty 4-letter words (although visual violence and sex would remain on screen). You could also control the volume from whisper to bone-rattling.
Spot sound cancelation:
Lots of uses for this one. Create quiet zones by coupling with sound cancelation techniques. Imagine being able to punch the "Cone of Silence" (CoS) button in your office when your co-workers are getting a little loud or you need to really concentrate. You could also listen to your favorite music without wearing headphones or disturbing your cube-mate. This would be particularly useful for airplanes. You could engage your CoS when you want to get some rest or simply to block out the airplane noise. The pilot could engage everyone's CoS to nudge people into staying in their seat (if they get up, they get the loud airplane noises again). Or how about for good neighbor relations- are your neighbors complaining that your dog Sparky is keeping them up all night with his barking? Just install the BarkStop(TM) system in your back yard and put the tracking collar on him. All his barking gets muffled. It also acts as an invisible sonic fence to keep him inside the yard.
Super Surround-Sound Home Theater:
DVD's could contain extra sound encoding information to paint the viewing space with individual sounds. All of the sounds in the movie would come from a 3D location in space. This is similar to what the conductor in the article wanted to do.
Point-To-Point Smart Intercom:
Rig an office building with locator ID badges, tracking microphones, and sound projectors. Now you can tap your badge ala ST:TNG and speak to anyone in the building in total privacy. Rig it into the phone system and you can talk to anyone out of the office via their cell phone or in another office building a continent away.
Thrill rides and haunted houses:
Structure the experience by controlling sound location, volume, etc. Easy to make "ghosts" follow behind you, chains rattling above, and so on. Heighten the experience by using selectively transmiting magic frequencies that induce unease and nervousness.
And of course practical jokes:
Echoing footsteps, sqeaky shoes, body sounds, etc. Use your imagination.
The possibilites are almost unlimited. It is funny that what the DOD really wants out of this is a classic SFish Sonic Disruptor.
What I really want out of it is a Sonic Screwdriver.
I.V.
"These laws they're passing won't even compile anymore, let alone execute." - anon
I don't think this is the same thing as the beat frequency, unless the MIT web page is providing misinformation. If I remember correctly, the beat frequency effect comes out of the linear combination of two other waves.
The effect that they are describing is due to the interaction of the ultrasonics with the nonlinear behavior of the air (or whatever medium they're working on). (I'm assuming that the nonlinear behavior of air is one of those second or third-order effects which they don't bother telling people about in high-school physics.)