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randomname
03-02-2012, 02:47 PM
A new hand-held gun created by Japanese researchers has a startling capability: It can stop a person from speaking mid-sentence.


(NIAIST/Ochanomizu University) The device, developed by Kazutaka Kurihara at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and Koji Tsukada at Ochanomizu University, can jam the words of speakers more than 100 feet away, Yahoo News reports.

The gun works by using the concept of delayed auditory feedback. A microphone attached to the device picks up the words being said — and then plays it back 0.2 seconds later. The human brain, hearing this echo effect, becomes immediately confused and interprets it as silence. The device has no harmful effects.

The researchers say the tool is intended to be used in quiet spaces, such as libraries, to stop people from speaking. But in a published paper, they also seem to have bigger plans in mind:

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,” writes ExtremeTech.com, “this speech-jamming gun was built to enforce ‘proper’ conversations.”

Yahoo notes that there could be implications for free speech if law enforcement or other agencies began using the device at protests or political rallies.

The speech jammer has no effect, however, on meaningless sound sequences, like “Aaaargghhh.”

In Philadelphia, one man has already found a way to silence talkers -- at least the ones talking into their phones. After being caught using an illegal cellphone jammer by a local NBC news affiliate, the man, who calls himself Eric, said: “A lot of people are extremely loud, no sense of just privacy or anything. When it becomes a bother, that’s when I screw on the antenna and flip the switch.”

h ttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/new-japanese-gun-can-silence-speech/2012/03/02/gIQANKDymR_blog.html

Anti Federalist
03-02-2012, 02:52 PM
I shouldn't joke because it's becoming a reality.

I know how to stop it...

http://www.statefansnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/hat.bmp

CasualApathy
03-02-2012, 02:55 PM
Wait, what? The human brain can't handle a 0.2 second delayed echo? Really? I find that hard to believe actually.

Edit: Could someone with the video editing skillz try to run the audio track of a song or something twice over eachother with a 0.2 second delay to test this. If it somehow made me unable to hear anything my mind would be blown...

Ronulus
03-02-2012, 03:00 PM
Won't a real gun also silence speech?

bolil
03-02-2012, 03:00 PM
Im learning ASL, cant silence that!

Uriel999
03-02-2012, 03:11 PM
Man, one of these things could have saved many of my past relationships! I could use a pair of them...

jmdrake
03-02-2012, 03:14 PM
And in other news, a famous Japanese researcher recently found beaten with an inch of his life after using his "silence gun" on his mother-in-law.

asurfaholic
03-02-2012, 03:37 PM
Wait, what? The human brain can't handle a 0.2 second delayed echo? Really? I find that hard to believe actually.

Edit: Could someone with the video editing skillz try to run the audio track of a song or something twice over eachother with a 0.2 second delay to test this. If it somehow made me unable to hear anything my mind would be blown...

Have you never spoke into a microphone and have a bad echo effect? Seems it happens all the time on xbox, if you are talking, someone elses mic is picking up your voice and playing it back with a slight delay.

It is very hard to ignore and continue on. I can't imagine the effects if someone could cause me to experience this in my head....as opposed to in my ear.... nuts

Jingles
03-02-2012, 03:37 PM
This is as interesting as it is scary. But goddamn is it interesting.

jkr
03-02-2012, 03:40 PM
we have too much time on our hands...damn you science!

CasualApathy
03-02-2012, 03:40 PM
Have you never spoke into a microphone and have a bad echo effect? Seems it happens all the time on xbox, if you are talking, someone elses mic is picking up your voice and playing it back with a slight delay.

It is very hard to ignore and continue on. I can't imagine the effects if someone could cause me to experience this in my head....as opposed to in my ear.... nuts

I get that it's immensly annoying and would make it hard to comprehend anything being said, but the article claims that: "The human brain, hearing this echo effect, becomes immediately confused and interprets it as silence." So you shouldn't be able to hear anything at all, and that's what I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around...

pcosmar
03-02-2012, 03:42 PM
This is as interesting as it is scary. But goddamn is it interesting.

So is Voice to Skull.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/05/army-removes-pa/

It still takes a sick bastard to create it.

fisharmor
03-02-2012, 03:42 PM
Won't a real gun also silence speech?
Yes, but the potential MIC profits aren't as big.

RiseAgainst
03-02-2012, 04:14 PM
I get that it's immensly annoying and would make it hard to comprehend anything being said, but the article claims that: "The human brain, hearing this echo effect, becomes immediately confused and interprets it as silence." So you shouldn't be able to hear anything at all, and that's what I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around...

It doesn't make the sound go away, as in all of a sudden no one can hear you, it confuses your mind and makes it difficult to speak.

CasualApathy
03-02-2012, 04:17 PM
It doesn't make the sound go away, as in all of a sudden no one can hear you, it confuses your mind and makes it difficult to speak.

That's not what the article says though...

FindLiberty
03-02-2012, 04:24 PM
Kinda' lame.

I used to do this for kicks as a kid back in the 1960's. (I used headphones instead of directional
focused speakers and high powered sound output fed by directional mic and digital delay as I'm
guessing this invention uses today).

I'd set up a microphone feeding a 1/4" reel-to-reel tape deck that had "three heads" (Erase, Record,
Play); Placed headphones on the test subject; Asked 'em to read a printed paragraph out loud
(or talk about anything they wanted to).

I'd have them listen to their own voice via headphones (turned up as loud as they could handle
comfortably) while in live "source" mode for a few seconds, then I'd switch to the playback monitor
(delayed sound of their own voice).

Running at 3 3/4 ips tape speed, the delay from that monitor play head was very confusing to listen
to ...for a while, because after a few minutes of practice, it became easy to ignore that delayed sound
and it was possible to push on andjust keep talking normally*.

The effect was a hoot to listen to (and record) because the person talking would pause, then fight the
effect while slowing d-o-w-n / a-n-d / s-lu-r-r-ing words s-p-e-a-k-i-n-g S-L-O-W-L-Y with stops/starts
(sounding quite confused, stumbling, mumbling words as if drunk). I probably have some old
recordings of this effect that seemed quite funny at the time.

It's great. Tyrants are interested in yet another way to inhibit free speech - probably a few million
dollars in (fiat) grant money here!

+++

*Maybe this is why I'm a poor listener now, not hearing the other person talking and interrupting as if
I don't even hear them speaking - just running along with my own thoughts. Hey, this could be added
to mandatory gov skool education to round out all the other imperfections they drill into kids heads!

Anti Federalist
03-02-2012, 04:50 PM
That's what I was thinking.

Isn't this why talk show hosts insist you shut your radio off when calling in, because the tape and transmission delay confuse people when heard together?


Kinda' lame.

I used to do this for kicks as a kid back in the 1960's. (I used headphones instead of directional
focused speakers and high powered sound output fed by directional mic and digital delay as I'm
guessing this invention uses today).

I'd set up a microphone feeding a 1/4" reel-to-reel tape deck that had "three heads" (Erase, Record,
Play); Placed headphones on the test subject; Asked 'em to read a printed paragraph out loud
(or talk about anything they wanted to).

I'd have them listen to their own voice via headphones (turned up as loud as they could handle
comfortably) while in live "source" mode for a few seconds, then I'd switch to the playback monitor
(delayed sound of their own voice).

Running at 3 3/4 ips tape speed, the delay from that monitor play head was very confusing to listen
to ...for a while, because after a few minutes of practice, it became easy to ignore that delayed sound
and it was possible to push on andjust keep talking normally*.

The effect was a hoot to listen to (and record) because the person talking would pause, then fight the
effect while slowing d-o-w-n / a-n-d / s-lu-r-r-ing words s-p-e-a-k-i-n-g S-L-O-W-L-Y with stops/starts
(sounding quite confused, stumbling, mumbling words as if drunk). I probably have some old
recordings of this effect that seemed quite funny at the time.

It's great. Tyrants are interested in yet another way to inhibit free speech - probably a few million
dollars in (fiat) grant money here!

+++

*Maybe this is why I'm a poor listener now, not hearing the other person talking and interrupting as if
I don't even hear them speaking - just running along with my own thoughts. Hey, this could be added
to mandatory gov skool education to round out all the other imperfections they drill into kids heads!

V3n
03-02-2012, 05:35 PM
I read about technology to prevent groups of people from chanting/cheering at stadium by playing back their chants over the loud speaker on a delay. I can't find it now, but it seems like they took this same concept and just pinpointed it down. (I remember a video at a stadium where a chant started to pick up, then just died and everyone was confused.. but like I said, can't find it now.)

Just another way to quiet protests and messages the government doesn't want to hear.

FritzforPaul
03-02-2012, 06:08 PM
I think this is scary. Humans keep trying to go one step too far in everything.

PeteinLA
03-02-2012, 06:24 PM
Interesting.

Seems like you could negate it's effect by pointing a silent gun at the silent gun causing a continues loop that would just be interpreted as constant noise.

I had an idea for an invention like this for a hat that could be worn by celebrities where you could wire a hat with flash-slaves and small fast recycling strobes. Every time a paparazzi goes to take a picture the slave would fire off a strobe and mess up the image of the celebrities face. Of course I think I was drunk when I thought it up.

FritzforPaul
03-02-2012, 06:36 PM
LOL..well I am impressed! Are ya rich yet?:)

pcosmar
03-02-2012, 06:38 PM
I get that it's immensly annoying and would make it hard to comprehend anything being said, but the article claims that: "The human brain, hearing this echo effect, becomes immediately confused and interprets it as silence." So you shouldn't be able to hear anything at all, and that's what I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around...

Actually,, I think their description is oversimplifying it to diffuse how really nefarious it is.

Watch this,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9EdPvgb-Oo

You can also research
"Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio" or MEDUSA

Tinfoil does not help,, this is unfortunate reality.

This shit has been going on for some time and people think this is "new".

Bosco Warden
03-02-2012, 06:59 PM
I shouldn't joke because it's becoming a reality.

I know how to stop it...

http://www.statefansnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/hat.bmp

but will it work?

I got a few boxes of the "foil" to foil these fools. ;)

thelaibon
03-02-2012, 07:21 PM
I'm an audio engineer. I can detect a shift in timing (echo, delay, whatever u want to call it) as little as 2ms from the original audio. I would think most people would notice at 10-15ms. I didn't read the article, but I doubt it had anything to do with delays. I gather it's referring to sound cancellation -- which is the playing back of 2 identical audio clips, however one clip has been deliberately inverted out of phase (inverted oscillations), resulting in a "zero sum" kind of thing.

This is an old trick used on old stereo records -- you could isolate (or exclude) a specific instrument from a song by inverting the phase of the L or R side, resulting in whatever was left (vocals, in the middle of the stereo field, as an example).

Bose also used this type of technology on their noise cancelling headphones. You wear the headphones on a flight, for example, and there is a tiny microphone on the exterior of the headphones somewhere which transduces the sound pressure into voltage -- inside the headphones is an analog circuit which quickly inverts the phase and plays back the inverted phase into the headphones. The user supposedly experiences silence (never tried it myself) as a result.

carmaphob
03-02-2012, 07:25 PM
I shouldn't joke because it's becoming a reality.

I know how to stop it...

http://www.statefansnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/hat.bmp

This would definitely stop it.
http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/5829195/2/stock-photo-5829195-hearing-protection-ear-muffs.jpg

pcosmar
03-02-2012, 07:28 PM
This would definitely stop it.
http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/5829195/2/stock-photo-5829195-hearing-protection-ear-muffs.jpg

NO.
It will NOT.

It is closer related to this,, Likely a spin off of the technology.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14250-microwave-ray-gun-controls-crowds-with-noise.html

presence
03-02-2012, 08:05 PM
Can't do a thing about the inhuman megaphone app (http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=inhuman+megaphone+app&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) or the human microphone (http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=human+microphone&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8)!

presence

azxd
03-02-2012, 09:03 PM
It doesn't make the sound go away, as in all of a sudden no one can hear you, it confuses your mind and makes it difficult to speak.
So it's really a method of determining who the weak minded are ... LOL

ronpaulhemp
03-02-2012, 10:05 PM
This is crazy! A speech silencing gun?! What next, a thought-stopping gun?? What is our world coming to...:eek:

pcosmar
03-02-2012, 10:14 PM
How many people in this thread are capable of Critical Thinking?

Do you know how sound travels?

Do you understand that this CAN NOT work as described ? (it can work differently)

asurfaholic
03-03-2012, 05:30 AM
That's not what the article says though...

I wonder what exactly that statement means... maybe its a dialect issue, they might have botched a translation... or not.

It seems odd though, to say that when the person speaks he hears a delayed echo, but interprets it as silence. Weird..

FindLiberty
03-03-2012, 07:16 AM
I'm an audio engineer. ... deliberately inverted out of phase
(inverted oscillations), resulting in a "zero sum" kind of thing.

Bose also used this type of technology on their noise cancelling headphones.

High db Liberty SPL back to my bro thelaibon, I'm an A/V engineer too (retired)!

Yes, that's interesting. (I did not read the article, but the quote mentions "delay").

Supposedly, some "high end" cars optionally have noise cancellation technology in
the seats to REALLY reduce road and engine noise for the occupants (hidden
speakers in seatback near ears are fed with inverted sounds from mics that are
placed elsewhere in vehicle).

Projecting powerful inverted sound waves could reduce the sound near
its source (mouth) so even a PA system (or bull horn) would be effectively
"muted". The person speaking may not be aware of this if the acoustic
cancellation wave could be tightly focused only on the mouth (or end of bull
horn).

+++

Geeesh,
This system could be an accessory that's would be logically attached to the
SWAT snipers rifle so that temporary (acoustic) and permanent (bullet to brain)
anti-protest measure options are immediately available to "authorities".

I don't think that phase inversion method could work on a large chanting group.
Tyrants would need to hire more "audio snipers" at a 1:1 ratio with the crowd.

Turning up the power too high could give the spectacular "Scanners" exploding
head effect therefore a sniper to crowd ratio of 1:15 shoud be more than enough.

Technology advances ...along with countermeasures. e.g., Wireless HH mics have
made the older "apply 12KV to XLR pin 1" electrocution method obsolete.

+++

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/LRAD-US-Navy.jpg/220px-LRAD-US-LRAD operator wearing hearing protection

pcosmar
03-03-2012, 07:52 AM
Either people are not reading or Not Thinking. I am glad we have sound engineers here.
You should KNOW how sound travels.



The researchers say the tool is intended to be used in quiet spaces, such as libraries, to stop people from speaking. But in a published paper, they also seem to have bigger plans in mind:

If the speaker is hearing sound 100 ft(30 m) away so is everyone in the vicinity.
This thing would have to be LOUD. That would defeat the stated purpose of "Quiet Spaces".

This thing simply CAN NOT work as described. ( it can work differently than described)

Research MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEDUSA_%28weapon%29

pcosmar
03-03-2012, 08:17 AM
I shouldn't joke because it's becoming a reality.

I know how to stop it...

http://www.statefansnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/hat.bmp

It is interesting that you posted this image,,
Because this type of Voice to Skull technology was the inspiration for the original "Tin Foil Hats".
Sadly, they are infective.

ShaneEnochs
03-03-2012, 12:19 PM
Wait, what? The human brain can't handle a 0.2 second delayed echo? Really? I find that hard to believe actually.

Edit: Could someone with the video editing skillz try to run the audio track of a song or something twice over eachother with a 0.2 second delay to test this. If it somehow made me unable to hear anything my mind would be blown...

It's true. I work at a call center, and every once in a while there is an echo of my voice. Even though I've said the opening script ten thousand times, it'll stop me dead in my tracks and I'll forget what I was saying.

CasualApathy
03-03-2012, 12:38 PM
It's true. I work at a call center, and every once in a while there is an echo of my voice. Even though I've said the opening script ten thousand times, it'll stop me dead in my tracks and I'll forget what I was saying.

But you hear the echo right? It's not like you're talking but are unable to hear the sound?

r3volution
03-03-2012, 12:51 PM
cant all guns do this ?

ShaneEnochs
03-03-2012, 08:00 PM
But you hear the echo right? It's not like you're talking but are unable to hear the sound?

I don't know how to describe it. It's not silence, but it's not like I'm really hearing myself either. It just screws with my head.

thoughtomator
03-03-2012, 08:20 PM
Check it out, another speech silencing weapon:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/S%26W_Model_29_comparison.jpg

Seriously, if you could stop someone from talking without hurting them, every parent would have one. "Don't talk back to me, young man!" and actually be able to enforce it, think of the possibilities!