auditory
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ICYMI: Hyper directional sound guides runners
Today on In Case You Missed It: Malaysian sportswear company Ash Be Nimble has expanded their product line to include the Handbag Dyetonator, a fob-style accessory that will expel ink and smoke onto anyone who walks (or runs, or scoots) away with your bag. The Dyetonator attaches to a purse similar to a keychain and can be deployed via SMS message (so hopefully your phone wasn't in that bag...) to mark a thief for easy identification. It also contains a GPS tracker, should the culprit succeed in getting away with your pocketbook. It's still in early testing phases, and certainly isn't foolproof, but the idea of a dye pack exploding on a thief is a satisfying thought, so hopefully this will eventually make it to market.
Bone-anchored hearing aids filter out noise, finally ready for human implantation
Think those noise-canceling earbuds are hot stuff? Imagine if said technology was applied to an advanced type of implantable hearing aid, and you'll have an idea of exactly what Earthlings with severe hearing loss now have to look forward to. For years now, we've watched as cochlear implants became more effective in lab tests, and up until recently, we've had strict medical testing procedures to thank for the inability to actually get one. Now, one Colin Hughes will soon be amongst the first Australians to enjoy a "new bone-anchored hearing aid designed to adjust to noisy environments, quiet conversations and the varying rhythms and pitch of music." Due to a birth defect that left him with atypically narrow eustachian tubes, Colin was never able to take advantage of traditional hearing aids for any length of time, but now these $12,000 (per pair) devices are promising a new life for the 70-year old bloke. Our favorite feature? MP3 players can be directly (and discretely) attached, enabling old geezers to tune out old hags without them ever noticing.[Thanks, Mike]
Sprint WebCapTel On the Go brings call transcription to the mobile
Sprint has just made its WebCapTel service even better. In an effort to provide greater accessibility to Americans with hearing loss, the carrier has introduced the aforementioned service to allow "hard of hearing customers to read word-for-word captions on Windows Mobile 6 web browsers," and for what it's worth, it's also compatible with Safari 2.0. The free web-based system enables hearing impaired individuals to make a call using two phones -- one of which is used for reading captions while the other is used for listening and speaking. The process seems simple enough; before making a call, the user would log onto www.sprintcaptel.com on one device in order to receive the transcription of the discussion on the other. It's available now for calls made within the US (and its Territories).[Via RCRWireless]
Voice searching coming to Windows Mobile?
While Microsoft sure has its hands full with that other search engine, it looks like the mobile flavor of Windows could be getting a welcomed extra. Apparently, a questionably obtained CAB file has been acquired that enables users to vocally search for terms on Live Search for Mobile, and better yet, to input text via your voice "on any field that supports text entry." Of course, the application is indeed stuck in beta, which practically guarantees that you'll hit a few bugs if you load this up, but if you've got nothing to lose or you just can't resist a good challenge, be sure to give it a whirl and let us know how it goes.[Via BoyGeniusReport]
Voice Pay enables secure vocal transactions
In the continual quest to make depleting your wallet entirely more convenient, Voice Pay's online payment system actually expects you to vocally confirm your next decrease in fundage. Dubbed the "world's first payment system interlinked with advanced voice biometric technologies," the system records and stores your "vocal fingerprint" so you can phone in a payment or purchase products on-site that support it. Of course, it's entirely likely that you'll be repeating all sorts of random numbers, passwords, and mother's maiden names in public in order to get that bill paid, but we're sure the hardcore yappers won't mind a bit.[Via Textually]
IRENE seeks to digitize, preserve fragile recordings
Granted, it's no Commodore 64, but the Library of Congress is yet again warming up to modern technology in order to save some of its most precious at-risk recordings from decades (or longer) ago. Dubbed IRENE (Image, Reconstruct, Erase, Noise, Etc.), the system was created by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to help preservationists "rapidly convert 78 rpm shellac and acetate discs" to digital form, and it is slated to also "remove debris and extraneous sounds that contribute to the deterioration of recordings." The next step in the sound restoration project is to create a fetching system that is simplistic enough for employees to understand and utilize, and we suspect the RAID vendors are already lining up to provide the terabytes exabytes of storage that will likely be needed.[Image courtesy of IRENE]
Auditory nerve implant could drastically benefit deaf individuals
Early last year, gurus at the University of Michigan were devising a newfangled type of cochlear implant, but now it looks like the Wolverines are more interested in a fresh auditory nerve implant that is being dubbed "a superior alternative" to the (now) old fashioned option. The uber-thin electrode array would purportedly "transmit a wide range of sounds to the brain," and could give profoundly and severely deaf people the ability to "to hear low-pitched sounds common in speech, converse in a noisy room, identify high and low voices, and appreciate music." Researchers on the project are convinced that this technology trumps cochlear implants in every way, and while preliminary patents have already been filed, it'll still be nearly a decade at best before these things can invade human ears en masse.[Via Physorg]
Oticon Epoq binaural Bluetooth headset doubles as hearing aid
Oticon's no alien to the niche world of overly useful hearing aids, and while it's been a few years since we've seen anything fresh from the company, its newest offering looks to help those aging ears deal with hearing loss while staying connected to modern technology. The Epoq lineup of "hearing instruments" allows a pair of Bluetooth earpieces to be worn simultaneously, and proprietary binaural high speed wireless technology allows the pair "to communicate at data transfer speeds 100 faster than hearing instruments now on the marker." In essence, the devices transmits "stereophonic auditory information that is in sync with a user's visual experience," and it also tries its hand(s) at being a Bluetooth headset that enables handsfree calling and music streaming when used with the "Streamer" add-on. Oticon will reportedly be rolling out the Epoq W (about $8,000) and Epoq XW (closer to $9,000) early next month.[Via Slashphone, photo courtesy of Stuff]
Taylannas' Menus That Talk vocalize what's for dinner
Auditory menus might be an old trick, but it's likely to make Taylannas some serious coin if implemented in any number of eateries. The Florida-based startup has announced plans to dole out "slim electronic tablets about the size and shape of a DVD case" that sport touchscreen displays, speak numerous languages, and can even have its buttons imprinted with Braille to help the blind wade through the interface. As the title implies, the menus will vocalize what's on the docket, as customers can select different segments (drinks, dinner entrees, desserts) to be read aloud. The obvious benefactors are those who are visually impaired, but even customers who are hard of hearing were taken into account as the Menus That Talk devices also have a "detachable hand-held earphone" that reportedly syncs with most modern hearings aids. Still, we have to wonder if restaurants that rely on a quiet, low-key atmosphere won't disable the volume functions or demand a built-in whisper mode in order to maintain sanity during the evening rush.[Thanks, Joe B.]
GPS guidance could be delivered through audio cues
While we recently saw just how important listening to your DAP could eventually become when trying to shuffle through menus and playlists, a team of researchers at Swansea and Glasgow Universities are hoping to throw GPS into the mix while we're at it. Essentially, DAP / PMP owners would be able to program a destination into their handheld, and if headed in the right direction, music would be delivered in a perfect stereo split. Heading off course, however, would shift the volume to one ear or the other, providing auditory cues of which way to turn in order to get back on track. Moreover, customized POI preferences could be programmed in so that users could be given an "aural nudge" when passing by something that the device knew would pique his / her interest. Hey, we're down with anything that allows us to focus more on our surroundings and less on that pesky display, but this stuff should probably come with some sort of disclaimer before being loosed on the GPS-obeying UK crowd (we kid, we kid -- sort of).
earPod creation could add auditory menus to iPod, DAPs
Rumblings about the layout and design of Apple's iPod scroll wheel in particular have been making the rounds for what seems like ages, but a new development from the Microsoft Research labs could nix the need to pull your DAP out and nearly collide with foreign objects whilst scrolling to a new tune. Aside from the glaring curiousness that stems from a Microsoft-derived project being dubbed earPod, the team has purportedly been working with scientists at the University of Toronto "on software that could make it possible to navigate the menus of gadgets that use circular touch pads with only audio cues." Essentially, touching the scroll wheel would provide audio clips to help you find your way through menus without ever seeing the screen, which would certainly prove useful on screenless DAPs. Currently, the system is quite limited in regard to the number of cues available, but here's to hoping that text-to-speech capabilities can become integrated as well so we can cycle through the thousands of artists and songs without even needing a display. [Warning: PDF read link][Via TechnologyReview]
Head-mounted display helps disabled walk
Although we've seen gait monitors and even prosthetic feet that assist individuals in regaining a more natural stride, scientists at Technion Institute of Technology in Israel have resorted to a head-mounted display for its rendition. This virtual reality device combines "auditory and visual feedback to improve walking speed and stride length in patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease," and provides the wearer with a "tiled-floor image" that apparently assists them in navigating nearly any terrain. The device is meant to take the place of normal muscle feedback mechanisms, and to provide said feedback to these disabled individuals so they can make adjustments and improve the efficiency of their walk. The HMD has already made its way to several medical centers and has purportedly yielded positive results, but there was no word on when this device would be commercially available.[Via MedGadget]
Ntech intros ear-rattling NVE 100B Bluetooth earbuds
After a long, hard day spent fixing that ever-present paper jam in the office printer, it's nice to kick back in iJoy's ZipConnect while letting the iGoGo personal massager sooth away your aches and pains to the tune of your favorite Breakfast Club jam. But Ntech wants to add one more aspect to your already jubilating experience by tossing an extra vibe directly on your ear. The NVE 100B is an "earring-style" Bluetooth earphone designed to simply clip onto your ear, with the front half pumping out music while the backside thumps to the beat. Strangely enough, the company actually expects the non-intrusive earbud to "prevent possible auditory disease," but we're assuming you take a major hit in sound quality to accomplish such a precaution. Nevertheless, these oddly sensational (albeit probably dysfunctional) earclips should be available on the Korean market just before the year's end for a currently undisclosed price.
