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Cone of Silence 2.0

Posted by kdawson on from the would-you-believe-you-will-no-longer-be-able-to-hear-me dept.

Village Idiot sends word of a patent granted to MIT researchers for a cone of silence a la Maxwell Smart. This one doesn't use plastic, but rather active and networked sensors and speakers embedded in a (probably indoor) space such as an open-plan office. "In 'Get Smart,' secret agents wanting a private conversation would deploy the 'cone of silence,' a clear plastic contraption lowered over the agents' heads. It never worked — they couldn't hear each other, while eavesdroppers could pick up every word. Now a modern cone of silence that we are assured will work is being patented by engineers Joe Paradiso and Yasuhiro Ono of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ... Instead of plastic domes, they use a sensor network to work out where potential eavesdroppers are, and speakers to generate a subtle masking sound at just the right level. ... The array of speakers... aims a mix of white noise and randomized office hubbub at the eavesdroppers. The subtle, confusing sound makes the conversation unintelligible." One comment thread on the article wonders about the propriety of tracking people around an office in order to preserve privacy.

12 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Solution looking for a problem. by ScrewMaster · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just go into your office and CLOSE THE DOOR.

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    1. Re:Solution looking for a problem. by VagaStorm · · Score: 4, Funny

      I raise your closed office door by 1 hidden mic.

      --
      www.aleo.no
    2. Re:Solution looking for a problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      I raise your hidden mic by 1 masturbating gorilla.

    3. Re:Solution looking for a problem. by denzacar · · Score: 4, Funny

      That is about the last and final indicator that you should find another job - when a masturbating gorilla gets a raise but you are skipped over.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    4. Re:Solution looking for a problem. by JustOK · · Score: 3, Funny

      happens all the time where I work. Typically they get a promotion, too.

      --
      rewriting history since 2109
    5. Re:Solution looking for a problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I dunno, I'd feel kinda bad for the gorilla if he couldn't get a raise.

      Wait... what are we talking about?

    6. Re:Solution looking for a problem. by arthurpaliden · · Score: 4, Funny

      Suround it with space heaters.

      --
      Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
    7. Re:Solution looking for a problem. by RawsonDR · · Score: 3, Funny

      The best thing about learning ASL is that most of the students are female.

      No, they are only saying that. They are actually old, overweight bald men who use the internet to live out their fantasies.

      a/s/l?

  2. I'd imagine... by ViennaLen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Agents: "Can you hear me now?"
    Eavesdroppers: "...... No.."

  3. Wow! Could submarines use this . . . ? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 3, Funny

    . . . you can bet your hairy ass they do! They generate sound to exactly cancel out the sound of their propellers.

    . . . so that sound cancellation technology on your ear buds was pioneered/sponsored by the DoD back in the early '60s. It even used some of that newfangled "transistor" technology.

    Maybe the "Get Smart" gag was just misinformation to convince the Russians that the idea was asinine and would never work?

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  4. Shit... by meuhlavache · · Score: 3, Funny

    The array of speakers... aims a mix of white noise and randomized office hubbub at the eavesdroppers.

    And what if they use brown note?

  5. Re:Fricken Laser Beams by noidentity · · Score: 2, Funny

    Only a problem if you're near shark-infested water.