Speech-Jamming Gun [???]
March 1st, 2012Via: ExtremeTech:
Japanese researchers have created a hand-held gun (pictured above) that can jam the words of speakers who are more than 30 meters (100ft) away. The gun has two purposes, according to the researchers: At its most basic, this gun could be used in libraries and other quiet spaces to stop people from speaking — but its second application is a lot more chilling.
The researchers were looking for a way to stop “louder, stronger” voices from saying more than their fair share in conversation. The paper reads: “We have to establish and obey rules for proper turn-taking when speaking. However, some people tend to lengthen their turns or deliberately interrupt other people when it is their turn in order to establish their presence rather than achieve more fruitful discussions. Furthermore, some people tend to jeer at speakers to invalidate their speech.” In other words, this speech-jamming gun was built to enforce “proper” conversations.
The gun works by listening in with a directional microphone, and then, after a short delay of around 0.2 seconds, playing it back with a directional speaker. This triggers an effect that psychologists call Delayed Auditory Feedback (DAF), which has long been known to interrupt your speech (you might’ve experienced the same effect if you’ve ever heard your own voice echoing through Skype or another voice comms program). According to the researchers, DAF doesn’t cause physical discomfort, but the fact that you’re unable to talk is obviously quite stressful.
Research Credit: JS
It’s interesting becoming aware of conversations, your own and those of others. Sometimes there are some interesting power games: People cut each other off, raise their voice to drown out any interruption, monopolise a topic, deliberately ignore spoken or unspoken signals, etc.
I discovered this strange effect when recording myself for a narration.
Very unnerving experience.
My sister was able to continue talking when she tried it out… maybe it only works on some people?
The perfect weapon for any liberal who dares to do a live interview on FOX…
I think this is the most sickening thing I’ve read here in days (and there’s been a lot to chew on recently). The dynamics of human conversation are astonishingly complex, one of the main reasons we have such enormous brains. It takes half a lifetime to fully master and some people simply never do. This “gun” is the intellectual equivalent of what, a club in the face? Dumbing down indeed.