Tool for Silencing Chatty

Two Japanese scientists create a tool to turn the loud speaker or the silencing of a nag. Speechjammer is the name of a tool designed by Kazutaka Kurihara, researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and Koji Tsukada, professor at Ochanomizu University, Tokyo. 

Shaped handheld device, consisting of a microphone Speechjammer pointing to the speaker and sound recordings. When the tool is aimed in the direction of someone who is talking, the microphone will pick up and move it to the sound of the speakers and then sent to a voice recorder. 

Recorder will play back the sound and directed toward the person with a delay of about 0.2 seconds. The composition of highly directional microphones and speakers, so the tool can be directed to a speaker from a distance, like a pistol.

"The system of the tool can disrupt a person's speech without compromising their physical comfort," said the scientists reported in a paper in MIT Technology Review.

Of tests performed, Kurihara and Tsukada find some unexpected things. For example, the tools to function more effectively if the delay is set in a different voice. 

Speechjammer. (Picture from: http://www.designbuzz.com/)

The tool also works better when the speaker threw the words out loud rather than a spontaneous monologue. Speechjammer also can capture and process the sequence of sounds that have no meaning, like the sound of "aaaargh." 

Both of these researchers have not thought to produce a commercial discovery. Speechjammer they say can be used to keep silence in public libraries or facilitate discussion in group meetings. 

"We must establish and comply with appropriate rules for taking turns when talking," they said. "There are many negative aspects of speech that would be a barrier to the creation of a peaceful resolution of conflict." *** [TELEGRAPH | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 3814]

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