Device to silence incessant talkers created by Japanese scientists

[Jazzy]

A device that silences incessant talkers or mutes people who talk too loudly has been created by Japanese scientists.

Dubbed the SpeechJammer, the prototype device takes advantage of psychologists' discovery that it is virtually impossible to speak when your own words are being played back to you with a delay of a fraction of a second.



The gadget has been devised by Kazutaka Kurihara, a researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and Koji Tsukada, a professor at Ochanomizu University in Tokyo, and is remarkably simple.



The hand-held device consists of a microphone that is pointed at the speaker and records that person's voice. It then transfers the sounds to a speaker and replays them back in the same direction with a delay of about 0.2 seconds.



The microphone and speaker are directional so the device can be aimed at a speaker from a distance, like a gun.



The system can disturb remote people's speech without any physical comfort, the scientists said in a paper reported in the MIT Technology Review.



Full article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...t-talkers-created-by-Japanese-scientists.html



I know a few people I could use this on! Wonder where I can get one..

 

[nocturnal]

I know exactly why they made it... too many people in Japan that mumble to themselves hahaha

 

[Jazzy]

Could have saved a lot of money on this research. A real gun would be cheaper and more effective!

 

[DrLeftover]

I know people that would claim that it violates their Civil Rights. They have the right to yap from sun-up to sun-down like a whole pack of ankle biter class dogs, and you're not supposed to tell them to such the #*@%~! up because their constant babble, sound effects, and even a musical interlude where they re-create an 'TV Idol' moment... is giving you a migraine.



And this is at WORK!

 

[Evil Eye]

I... want to try it. On myself too.