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Author Topic: HYPERSONIC SOUND; Norris reinvents acoustics!! Gerard S. Cohen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 975 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 03-26-2003 07:54 PM                     Woody Norris has invented a method of transmitting sound silently with the directionality of a laser beam, up to 450 feet and soon much further, without the use of speakers. The sound seems to come from within the listener's head. It is being used by the US military, soon to be by the Japanese in millions of vending machines, and has applications in crime fighting and as a diabolical war weapon. A lengthy report on this extraordinary, versatile inventor and HSS, complete with diagrams and explanations I can only partially comprehend, can be found in the New York Times Magazine of 03/23/03. Or search acoustic journals. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/magazine/23SOUND.html  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 03-26-2003 08:11 PM                        Unfortunately, the link leads to a sign up page, not to the article.  |  IP: Logged Nicholas Roznovsky Expert Film Handler Posts: 156 From: College Station, TX, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-26-2003 08:16 PM                        Yeah, you have to register with the NY Times before you can access their online content.  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 03-26-2003 08:46 PM                     Not much technical detail, but it appears from the article that he is transmitting a directional ultrasonic beam that causes the skull, or possibly the bones of the inner ear, to vibrate producing sound.  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-26-2003 08:58 PM                     I have heard this method of sonic delivery. You use two directional beams of ultrasonic energy that meet at a specific point in space. At that point the secondary harmonics are in the audible range. The sound is adequate to deliver information but it is poor in frequency response and dynamic range.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-27-2003 02:19 AM                     Hmmmm, definitely something for the movie industry to consider. There are so many uses! Just think, dts has their new player which not only provides up to 10 channels of digital audio, but you've also got their subtitling system for the deaf. Now with this new technology, they could carry a separate track on the discs hooked up to an ultrasonic broadcaster to explain to all the stupid people what just happened in the movies so they don't have to be so "dumbed down" for audiences to be able to understand. The box office could benefit from a repeating loop saying "hey you, get your money out and ready by the time you get to the ticket window so you don't slow up the friggin' line." or "Lord of the Rings is sold out, but what you really want to see is Glitter 2". It could also prove quite useful at the concession stand. Just imagine you are standing in line and suddenly you hear this voice in your head "buy a large popcorn, Coke and lots of candy or something very bad will happen to you!" It's suggestive selling from hell. Even in the theater this could be useful. Each auditorium could be equipped with a phone that connects directly to the ultrasonic booth broadcaster so patrons could yell right into the projectionist's heads "wake up and fix the framing! And focus the damn movie too while you're at it!"  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-27-2003 02:28 AM                        "This area reserved for patrons in wheel chairs, that row over there reserved for dumbasses who we need to talk to ultrasonically."  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 03-27-2003 08:02 AM                     Brad, your ideas are not as outlandish as they sound. He has already licensed the technology to a Japanese vending machine manufacturer which will use it in conjunction with proximity sensors on their machines to attract customers. The part of the article that concerned me was that this can also be used as a weapon. They have discovered that transmitting screeching sounds at high volumes though this technology will incapacitate a target. I was envisioning an episode of the Star Trek with Kirk and Spock clutching their ears as they fall to the ground, when I suddenly realized the theatre possibilities. No more hassles with unruly customers. Just zap them with a targeted ultrasonic beam, and they are unconscious until the film is over. /Mitchell  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-27-2003 08:45 AM                        At ShoWest, one of the vendors had a speaker mounted in a downward-facing parabolic dish, providing a "cylinder of sound" localized to immediately under the dish. Would be useful for video displays of trailers or ads in the lobby, so you could have several different tracks playing without a cacophony of sound.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 03-27-2003 09:06 AM                        I missed that. Did you try it?  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-27-2003 09:13 AM                        Yes, it was quite effective. "Beam me up, Scotty".  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 03-27-2003 10:43 AM                        How was the sound quality? Did it hurt?  |  IP: Logged Mike Olpin Chop Chop! Posts: 1852 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-27-2003 10:46 AM                     The cylandar of sound is used at the Ruben H. Fleet science center in San Diego for some of there loby displays in the SciTours area. Verry good sound right underneath, however, frusterating if you cant get near to it.  |  IP: Logged Gerard S. Cohen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 975 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 03-27-2003 11:59 AM                     Registering for the New York Times is free. You choose a user name and password, and are greeted by name when you log on each time. Access to current articles including the magazine is free, for each week, but the content is archived at end of the week, and then you have access to a very brief abstract or pay a fee for the whole article. I've been registered for years, and have found no disadvantages, while the ability to print text and photos, and to email them, is very valuable. Unfortunately the article is too long to post, and I don't know which parts to excerpt. But you guys haven't even scratched the surface of this new method in your comments above.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 03-27-2003 12:06 PM                        I have too many accounts and passwords already. If it is supposed to be free, why do I have to register? To give them the free poll data?  |  IP: Logged

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