“Speech Jammer” discussion and demonstration Video

[AdamG]

Found this very interesting. Some of the examples he uses are thought provoking. I am interested in hearing more about this and how it works.

Discuss…

 

[Soria Moria]

Cool idea! Bringing it along for my next political debate.

 

[antcollinet]

In the early days of video conferencing at work we got a lot of the delayed feedback. When it happened it was close to impossible to speak.

 

[amirm]

Cool idea! Bringing it along for my next political debate.

That's what I thought he was going to do!!! I suspect there are laws against it though....

 

[AdamG]

That's what I thought he was going to do!!! I suspect there are laws against it though....

Sounds like you are correct. Probably why he used volunteers and offered a prize to anyone who could defeat the interference. He describes how tight the beaming is and that made me think of possible applications for improved sound positioning and simulated movement of the sound. Thinking reproducing Celing surround sound by direct reflection of the sound off the Celing and walls with one or two beaming speakers with automated gimbal movement capabilities similar to his example of reproducing the sound of a helicopter flying across the sky overhead by moving the speakers beam. Thus reducing the number of height speakers needed and eliminating their physical placement in the Celing. Technically would something like this be possible? On the surface it sounds like it could make moving height speaker surround sound more realistic and less complicated with regards to installations purposes while minimizing the WAF and not having to cut holes in your ceiling.

Anywho I found this technology interesting beyond the Speach blocking functionality.

 

[thewas]

In the early days of video conferencing at work we got a lot of the delayed feedback. When it happened it was close to impossible to speak.

True, rarely it happens even at mobile phone calls (especially through hands-free car kits) and is really annoying.

 

[amirm]

Technically would something like this be possible?

Beam forming is very common technology and is used for both microphones and speakers. We see a crude version of it in MTM speakers where the two mid-woofers create narrow directivity. The problem is narrow frequency response as changing the frequencies also changes the nature of beam forming.

 

[Jeromeof]

Thinking reproducing Celing surround sound by direct reflection of the sound off the Celing and walls with one or two beaming speakers with automated gimbal movement capabilities similar to his example of reproducing the sound of a helicopter flying across the sky overhead by moving the speakers beam.

i thought this also. I imagine this tech would be much better than the upward firing atmos speakers I have at bouncing sound off the ceiling

 

[IAtaman]

If I understand correctly, part of the tech is beam forming using a number of ultrasonic sound sources so that the formed beam is in the audible range. I remember maybe a decade or two ago some company marketing their "personalized sound system" for public venues such as restaurants amd cinemas with the premise that every table in a restaurant for example can listen to the music of their own chosing, without being disturbed by, or disturbing the people around them; and every seat in the cinema was in the sonic sweet spot and so on. I thought it was an amazing idea, but it never came to frution to the best of my knowledge so I thought it either did not work as intended, or the tech was not advanced enough to make it work.

 

[antcollinet]

of a helicopter flying across the sky overhead by moving the speakers beam.

Would this mean one moving beam transducer for each overhead atmos sound object?

Or perhaps it would be sufficient to optimise the position of 2 to 4 reflection points for the objects currently in play.

Though in either case you would need super quick and super quiet gimballing arrangments. Some sound objects are moving fast.

 

[NTK]

If I understand correctly, part of the tech is beam forming using a number of ultrasonic sound sources so that the formed beam is in the audible range. I remember maybe a decade or two ago some company marketing their "personalized sound system" for public venues such as restaurants amd cinemas with the premise that every table in a restaurant for example can listen to the music of their own chosing, without being disturbed by, or disturbing the people around them; and every seat in the cinema was in the sonic sweet spot and so on. I thought it was an amazing idea, but it never came to frution to the best of my knowledge so I thought it either did not work as intended, or the tech was not advanced enough to make it work.

We will have a chance to find out how well the latest tech in wavefield synthesis works when the Sphere in Las Vegas opens this week (with U2).

AudioXpress article:

Sphere Entertainment Unveils the Most Advanced Concert-Grade Audio System in the World, Powered by Holoplot

Sphere Entertainment is finally unveiling details about its Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by Holoplot, the world’s most advanced concert-grade audio system, which provides optimized sound to every seat in Sphere, a next generation entertainment medium opening in Las Vegas in fall 2023. Sphere...

audioxpress.com

 

[Rick Sykora]

Interesting, yet creepy...

Know I would not volunteer to have intense ultrasonics beamed at my head!

 

[Neddy]

I have one of the the hyper sound HSS-3000s, which I got cheap on ebay after hearing Woody's talk & demo at an exec conference I attended.

PRODUCTS - HyperSound

hypersound.pro

At the time I had considered a similar 'disturbing the universe' test like this one, but the first few folks I tested it out on, just as a speaker in the back yard, looked at me as if I was a...witch? worlock? madman?
No curiousity or questions, just left quickly (and these were relatives!).

So while Im not above zany pranks (I once chased down someone at work, yelling and screaming, and smashed a (prop) whisky bottle on his head - I had received a case of them from a friend in the business - and have to say, they sound amazingly realistic, for sugar!), this one is far too risky to (my) personal safety.

I do like the notion of using it at political speeches, though....

The speaker tech has mostly been used by the military for defensive purposes - warding off borders and pirates, etc - though at much higher (and dangerous) power levels.
Interesting tech, for sure.

I've never found another use (other than 'oddball demos') for the speaker - it sits, forlorn, boxed up in a closet, still.
Essentially exact same speech as this:

 

[IAtaman]

We will have a chance to find out how well the latest tech in wavefield synthesis works when the Sphere in Las Vegas opens this week (with U2).

AudioXpress article:

Sphere Entertainment Unveils the Most Advanced Concert-Grade Audio System in the World, Powered by Holoplot

Sphere Entertainment is finally unveiling details about its Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by Holoplot, the world’s most advanced concert-grade audio system, which provides optimized sound to every seat in Sphere, a next generation entertainment medium opening in Las Vegas in fall 2023. Sphere...

audioxpress.com

Thanks for the link, very interesting.

Each coverage mode automatically adjusts and compensates for changes in atmospheric conditions such as temperature and humidity, allowing the venue to provide a consistent sound quality regardless of the current environmental conditions. The venue’s specially designed acoustics absorb as much sound as possible, allowing Sphere Immersive Sound to create acoustical conditions from cavernous to intimate depending on the creative intent of a specific performance.

Specially designed acoustic absorbers, and compensation for atmospheric conditions might be the reasons why we have not seen this tech before maybe.

 

[somebodyelse]

I can't remember how the use of delayed audio as a treatment for stuttering came up at school, but we ended up experimenting with headphones, a mic and tape based delay. That might give an idea of how long ago it was. With the right delay speaking was initially difficult, but with a little practice no longer a problem. A friend pointed out the similarity to starting to play an organ where the electromechanical bits cause a delay between the action on the keyboard and the corresponding sound from the pipes.

 

[dasdoing]

I saw this video a week ago and got interested in modulated ultrasound. imagine all people in the room watching a movie and having their personal sound independently from each other. unfortunately, the sound quality seems to be very bad

this is one of the speakers he was showing: https://cvp.com/product/hss-h450
put it on the Klipple hehehhe

 

[dasdoing]

Thinking reproducing Celing surround sound by direct reflection of the sound off the Celing

it's not really a reflection, not in that sense. when the modulated ultrasound hits a barrier it demodulates and the sound becomes audible.