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Beamed Sonic Advertising Is Coming

Posted by kdawson on from the told-you-i-was-hearing-voices dept.

newtley writes in with a story from Ad Age a few days back. "Advertisers are determined to get into your head by one means or another, and Holosonic Research Labs has found yet another way of invading your privacy in the name of forcing you pay attention. You're walking down a street in New York when all of a sudden, a woman's voice whispers 'Who's that? Who's There?' No, you weren't having a psychotic episode; you were being subjected without your permission to 'sound in a narrow beam, just like light.' It was coming at you from a rooftop speaker seven stories up."

6 of 396 comments (clear)

  1. Psychosis ahead ... by foobsr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... I could imagine that this advancement of the 'art of advertising' could do some harm to people that are not so stable.

    CC.

    --
    TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
    1. Re:Psychosis ahead ... by flyingsquid · · Score: 5, Funny
      ... I could imagine that this advancement of the 'art of advertising' could do some harm to people that are not so stable.

      Yeah, these technologies ARE pretty obnoxious. All day long when I walk up and down the street, I'm getting voices in my ear and they just won't stop. I've got Safeway telling me about specials in their frozen foods section. Starbucks is telling me to buy their Cappucino. And Home Depot is constantly telling me that I've got to get a high powered rifle and take out the governor's dog so I can impress Jodi Foster, and do it NOW, NOW, NOW! And I've TRIED to make them stop, but no matter how many home improvement projects I start, Home Depot just will not relent!

      It got so bad that until I read this story, I was beginning to doubt my own sanity.

  2. Only one reasonable approach... by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...for me if I encounter a device like this, is to leave and come back with a baseball bat and trash the device into pieces. This measure is clearly an invasion of privacy if I'm generous and assault if not so generous. I do not want to be bombarded by forced mind control that is advertising.

    --
    It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
    Be yourself no matter what they say
  3. Nothing nefarious my tookus by LoadWB · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The sound isn't rattling your skull, it's not penetrating you, it's not doing anything nefarious at all. It's just like having a flashlight vs. a light bulb," he said.


    It is penetrating my space purposefully and unavoidably to sell me a product that I do not want. And even if I *did* want it, I will no longer thanks to this intrusive form of advertising. And yes, it is like a flashlight: directly in my eyes from which I cannot turn away.

    No no no no no. Direct audio advertising like this is a Bad Thing(tm).
  4. It works and it's freaky by Stochastism · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was involved in a university experiment with this technology. It's very difficult to make it work well, so, all privacy annoyances aside, I'm deeply impressed on a technical level.

    It's really freaky when someone waves these ultrasonic speakers around and the sound washes over you like a spotlight. But in our experiments the sound was really tinny, just like a paranoid voice in your head ;)

  5. Re:Pandora's box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine if a group of atheists put one of these devices near the entrance to a church. They could beam messages to the congregation as they enter and leave the church. Imagine the outburst that messages such as, "This is God. Intelligent Design is for retards." and "This is God. I know you touch yourself." would lead to!