Electronics & Computers Deals here!I hear voices: Could highly directional sound advertising be the next big thing?
The little black squares on the top of the billboard are the speakers.
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)UPDATE: An earlier version of this blog incorrectly described the technology used in an advertisement for the A&E's TV show Paranormal State. The technology, developed by the Holosonic Research Lab, uses a beam of ultrasound as a "virtual source", which changes into audible sound as it travels through the air. Please read the technology's inventor, F_J_Pompei's comment or visit the Holosonic Research Labs site to learn more.
The folks who heard the ad for A&E's TV show Paranormal State emitted from a billboard in New York City's Greenwich Village must have thought it was pretty weird. As they walked into the targeted area they were exposed to highly focused sound. One big advantage of the technology is that it doesn't contribute to ambient-noise pollution. I went to the Village a few days ago to check out the technology, but A&E had already pulled the plug. A&E's PR agency told me the speakers were only active during the first week of the campaign, so you gotta wonder, if it was such a great idea, why turn it off? The billboard is still there.
The phenomenon was covered in a terrific segment on the December 14 On the Media radio program on my local NPR station, WNYC.
The "Audio Spotlight" technology used in the billboard was developed by Holosonic Research Lab. Their Web site claims that "through a combination of careful mathematical analysis and engineering insight, the Audio Spotlight sound system has become the very first, and still the only, sound beam system which generates low-distortion, high-quality sound in a reliable, professional package." Well, I'm not so sure about that.
American Technology Corporation's HyperSonic technology also focuses sound into small beams. The Brooklyn Historical Society is currently using Hypersonic speakers in an exhibit, "In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn's Vietnam Veterans." The show features life-size photographs of the veterans, and when you stand in front of the portrait, the sound system automatically turns on and you hear the soldiers' pre-recorded stories. Many visitors can simultaneously experience the exhibit without hearing other sounds (because the sound is so tightly localized each patron hears only the intended sound).
I found the Hypersonic system worked quite well, but its fidelity was rather limited (it sounded like a small table radio). The oral histories are really interesting, and the Brooklyn Historical Society has a number of exhibitions on view. Check it out.
Steve Guttenberg is a frequent contributor to magazines and Web sites including Home Entertainment, Playback, and Ultimate AV. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
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Honestly, who thinks anymore, the government and corporations know best, and they aren?t receptive to us any way so let?s go with the flow!
The owners of America didn?t get to where they are by not commercializing everything in their wake under the guise of our favorite buzz word ?innovation.?
Not sure why the whole bone conduction myth is growing such legs, but seriously it was just a speaker.
As the other readers have pointed out, the Audio Spotlight technology does *not* work by beaming sound directly into people's skulls, nor does it work via bone conduction. I have no idea where this misinformation originated, but it's entirely incorrect.
The sound people hear is heard via exactly the same mechanism as any other sound, and the sound can of course be easily blocked by putting your fingers in your ears, wearing an ipod, or any other way one stops sound. Calling it an "onslaught" and claiming it cannot be blocked is pure sensationalism.
The novelty of this device is the physics of sound generation. Rather than creating sound with a speaker diaphragm, it uses a beam of ultrasound as a "virtual source", which changes into audible sound as it travels through the air.
This is clearly described on our website:
http://holosonics.com/technology.html
I would appreciate a correction.
Thank you,
Dr. F. Joseph Pompei
Founder, Holosonics
Inventor, Audio Spotlight technology
Leela: Of course.
...
Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?
Fry: Well, sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And in magazines and movies and at ball games and on buses and milk cartons and T-shirts and written in the sky. But not in dreams. No, sir-ee!
My head is my own, stay the F out of it!!!!!!!!!