Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Tongue Twisting Tooth Microphone

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the if-you-get-two-it-records-in-stereo dept.

dylanduck writes "New Scientist has found a patent for a microphone that clips on your tooth, meaning you can stay in radio contact even the noisiest situations - like warzones. You use your tongue to flip it on and off. Here is the patent itself. The same article mentions a blimp that launches like a rocket."

7 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. This is basic Science Fiction made real. by flogger · · Score: 3, Informative

    John Steakly's book, Armor is the first book I read with this "technology". I love it when Life imitates Art.

    --
    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    "First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
    -- The Doctor, "Doctor
    1. Re:This is basic Science Fiction made real. by maxbang · · Score: 2, Informative

      Something similar is mentioned in Starship Troopers. Biting down opens different commlinks based on which side of your mouth you use. Or something like that, I can't remember exactly how that worked.

      --
      I also reply below your current threshold.
  2. Re:What all of /. is thinking: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, stormtrooper comms were just in the helmets; though the devices were controlled with the tongue, they don't have anything inside the mouth.

  3. Cool, Reminds me of the Germans by hobotron · · Score: 3, Informative


    And their throat microphone that was widely used in their tank formations during World War II.

    --
    There is truth in humor.
  4. Good point by Infonaut · · Score: 3, Informative
    A lot of soldiers, particularly in the combat MOSes, chew tobacco. It's a nasty habit, and not particularly tactical (you can smell tobacco spit fairly easily, depending on the environment).

    That said, this could be a real godsend for grunts. Hands-free is definitely where it's at. You need to be able to shoot, move, and communicate at all times. If you have to negate your ability to shoot even for a moment while you're communicating, it makes you vulnerable. The more distributed and essentially "always-on" communications becomes, the better.

    Things are moving in the right direction. The concept of an RTO (radio telephone operator) who tags along with an officer, making both of them obvious targets, needs to disappear. The trick, of course, is effective miniaturization. This great, but it needs to be paired with long-range radios that are small enough to be part of a combat leader's load. No doubt the US military is spending a lot of money on just this sort of thing, and I'm sure there are spec ops units running around right now using commo equipment that blows doors on the stuff we had to use even ten years ago.

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
  5. Patent pictures by Palal · · Score: 2, Informative

    For those that don't have quicktime installed:
    Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3, Pic 4,
    Pic 5, Pic 6, Pic 7, Pic 8,
    Pic 9, Pic 10, Pic 11, Pic 12,

    --
    -Palal
  6. Re:Lead Inventor's name by alphafoo · · Score: 2, Informative

    I remember this fellow from 15 years ago at my alma mater http://www.umbc.edu/. Here's his bio http://www.umbc.edu/engineering/me/appa.htm.