Turn Your Head Into Speakers

Roland Piquepaille writes "A small company based in Iowa has developed products made with a "smart" metal that can turn your walls or your head into speakers. "Last August, Etrema -- an innovative technology firm nestled in the cornfields of Ames, Iowa -- started selling those chrome discs for $1,500 a pair. Called Whispering Windows, they can turn any wall, window, or drab conference table into a speaker." The author tried the technology, and even if she needed a full bottle of Tylenol after usage, said "it's not every day that your head serves as a piece of stereo equipment." This overview tells you more about this "magic" metal, the Terfenol, which is a combination of terbium and dysprosium. The article also says that we can soon expect pirated versions of Terfenol coming from China."

Comments

The human stereo

[Adam Jenkins]

Now if they can just wire the Discman inside your skull someplace too..

Re:The human stereo

[Nucleon500]

This is clearly the best technology ever developed, because it can close the analog hole. We can implant two speakers, one for each ear, just inside the skull. Each speaker will have a DAC and a decryptor chip, and a secure digital pathway leading out the ear canal. The pathway will block the ear canal to restrict unauthorized listening. The speakers will connect to a wearable Microsoft Music Center device, which will manage the user's listening rights. Later versions might include a microphone, so that the user can listen to sounds in the environment, after a short delay to ensure they aren't watermarked.

Although some cyber-terrorists may consider this a drastic method, it's the only way to protect the content industries, which are vital to America's economy, from rampant piracy and theft. Therefore, I'm proposing legislation requiring these devices to be implanted in each child before they turn two. Please join my crusade of consumer protection and write your congressman today!

Re:The human stereo

[genecystal]

This is not funny. This is terrifyingly prophetic

This explains alot...

[Anonymous Coward]

...no wonder the voices in my head sound like the Rolling Stones.

Now if they would only quit playing "Sympathy for the Devil".

-mark

My head already got a speaker!

[DaneelGiskard]

I wonder...will god nullify their patent because of prior art? ;-)

Re:Been done before?

[PaintyThePirate]

Acually, the SoundBug uses Terfenol.

Etrema is now trying to secure a major retailer to sell a $300 portable version called the Presenter, aimed at business travelers, that can plug into laptops and give any room a top-quality sound system for presentations. A toy version, the Soundbug, is available for $20 from Amazon and OfficeDepot.com. Despite the poorer sound quality, teenage boys seem to like it.

Matrix...

[DaneelGiskard]

If Mr. Anderson would have had that in Matrix, he could have really pissed of that agent in that questioning scene...

Agent: "What good is a phone call...if you're unable to speak!"

Neo turns on his head speakers

Neo: "Wadda say?" ;-)

Re:ThinkGeek

[dirkdidit]

Take it from somebody who shelled out the $30 for one of those things, they suck. Not just a little bit, but a lot. The thing rarely worked on the surfaces I'd put it on and on the surfaces it did work on, it still sounded like a dying cat. Not to mention that it is about the flimsiest thing I've ever used. It broke after only 2 weeks, though I can honestly say I wasn't heart broken.

Sure the SoundBug is a cool gadget but I strongly doubt it's even close to the product quality of the $300 this company is selling.

Sound Cancel?

[Davak]

One wealthy businessman handed Etrema $1.5 million to stop the slight vibrations on his yacht when he hit top speeds. Terfenol did the trick, allowing him to dine at sea without having his meal shimmy off the plate. [And] a local church hired the firm to build a special pew so that a deaf person could hear the service.

This interests me more than the original article. How does a speaker-like material stop vibrations? Sure sound is a vibration... but to cancel out another sound/vibration it would have play the inverse sound at exactly the same time to cancel it out.

I'm assume the pew above just converted the sounds to either physical vibrations which the person could feel... or just adjusted the frequency to something that could be better heard/perceived.

Walls as speakers in the military

[MemoryAid]

The military has transducers used on walls to prevent people from listening in on classified conversations. I've seen them installed in aircraft carrier ready rooms, where flight briefs take place. One can put an ear to the outside of the wall to try to listen, but can only hear the (usually lame) music in the wall.

This system is not designed as a speaker, per se, but it is audible from near the wall. I have no idea what flavor of unobtanium is used for these, but I suspect they probably cost at least $1500, based on the military's track record.

Hearing for the deaf?

[timefactor]

a local church hired the firm to build a special pew so that a deaf person could hear the service

This is the most intriguing thing about this. Would a deaf person be able to "hear" using the "head-as-speaker" technique?

Re:Been done before?

[jellomizer]

Because of the poorer sound quality, teenage boys seem to like it.

If you haven't listens to todays music. Low quality speakers only help make it better.