Author Topic: Do you hear that?  (Read 209 times)

Offline Mickey1992

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Do you hear that?
« on: April 22, 2005, 03:08:37 PM »
No, and you are not supposed to either.  Imagine the different applications if this truely works as demo'd (and doesn't cause internal damage).

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050422/ap_on_hi_te/hypersonic_sound

Inventor Creates Soundless Sound System

Fri Apr 22,11:30 AM ET   Technology - AP

By TYPH TUCKER, Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. - Elwood "Woody" Norris pointed a metal frequency emitter at one of perhaps 30 people who had come to see his invention. The emitter — an aluminum square — was hooked up by a wire to a CD player. Norris switched on the CD player.    

"There's no speaker, but when I point this pad at you, you will hear the waterfall," said the 63-year-old Californian.

And one by one, each person in the audience did, and smiled widely.

Norris' HyperSonic Sound system has won him an award coveted by inventors — the $500,000 annual Lemelson-MIT Prize. It works by sending a focused beam of sound above the range of human hearing. When it lands on you, it seems like sound is coming from inside your head.

Norris said the uses for the technology could come in handy — in cars, in the airport or at home.

"Imagine your wife wants to watch television and you want to read a book, like the intellectual you are," he said to the crowd. "Imagine you are a lifeguard or a coach and you want to yell at someone, he'll be the only one to hear you."

Norris holds 47 U.S. patents, including one for a digital handheld recorder and another for a handsfree headset. He said the digital recorder made him an inventor for life.

"That sold for $5 million," Norris laughed. "That really made me want to be an inventor."

He demonstrated the sound system at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, also called OMSI, on Thursday.

Norris began tinkering as an inventor at a young age — taking apart the family radio and putting it back together again. He said ideas come to him when he's driving around or talking with friends.

"I don't know how I got to be an inventor, but I guess some kids can play the piano, and I can invent."

Norris will receive the Lemelson-MIT Prize at a ceremony here on Friday.

One of his most recent patents is for the AirScooter, a personal flying machine designed for commuting. It reaches speeds up to 55 mph and is light enough — under 300 pounds — to not require a license to fly.

The AirScooter was also on display at OMSI, although Norris didn't fly it.

The machine has a single seat, a four-stroke engine and is barely 10 feet tall. Its pontoons allow it to land on water. The machine's fiberglass and aluminum construction keeps its weight down. Bike-style handle bars move two helicopter blades, which spin in opposite directions.

Norris' AirScooter was shown on "60 Minutes" last Sunday. He said since the airing of the show, more than 7 million people have visited the AirScooter's Web site.

Norris said he and his crew have tested the AirScooter for four years, and he couldn't have created the machine without a skilled group of aeronautics engineers around him.

Offline indy007

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Do you hear that?
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2005, 03:18:56 PM »
I forsee a massive increase in demand for tin-foil hats coming.

Offline Edbert1

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Do you hear that?
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2005, 03:27:29 PM »
Imagine the market for ventrilloquists alone!

Offline JB73

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Do you hear that?
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2005, 03:34:13 PM »
schizophrenia will be on the rise BIG time LMFAO

imagine how you could mess with someone?

some poor homeless guy could be hearing "voices" because of teenagers messing with him.

oooooo

think of the legal implifications, someone SWEARS they hear voices in their head, they are considered crazy, and kill someone.... then it's found someone is messing with them.


dude this this is a WHOLE can-o-worms to open up
I don't know what to put here yet.

Offline indy007

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Do you hear that?
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2005, 03:38:41 PM »
I used to lug a boombox a few thousand yards to demoralise the "good ol' boys" by blaring Eminem at them. They hated it. They'd come swarming out of their base (into my ambush) to make it stop. The possibilities if this thing hits the market... oh man.. a whole new world of sadism awaits.

Offline Nilsen

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Do you hear that?
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2005, 04:02:14 PM »
Could be a great aid for sertain leaders that frequently have trouble with knowing how to pronounce farily common words... or names of admirals :)