Ever since the beginning of time, people have hated crying babies.
This has been magnified a billion times when stuck in an airplane.
Noise cancellation headphones work extremely well on airplanes to reduce fatigue, by emitting sound waves *exactly opposite* the waves emitted by jet, etc on an airplane.
Circuitry and technology has advanced to the point where it can easily (at least over the period of 3 minutes) analyze the sound pattern coming from a screaming little crumb-cruncher (Waaaah... Hic....Waaah....blaaaHHH HAAA HAAA.. Hic.. Waaaaa...) and negate the soundwaves accordingly.
Sure, It'll use more batteries, but it's worth it.
Side of the headphones can have a little compartment for storing xanax and apple-juice powder, just in case batteries run out.-- mahatma, May 02 2003 Noise Canceling Headphones http://www.surprise...ling_headphones.cfm...are nothing new. Or am I missing something here? [DrCurry, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] What I wear http://www.phonak.c...odel=33&detail=true"Waaa-" *click* [thumbwax, Oct 05 2004] Headphones which relay the sounds of a microphone placed inside the engine would easily drown out the noise of even the most vocal unhappy tyke.
Also, 3 minutes of analysis would give you the inverted soundwave about 2.999 minutes too late.-- friendlyfire, May 02 2003 Perhaps not 100%.. but I disagree. Hearing aid technology is tremendously better now than in the past 10 years. Remove the need for compactness, put circuitry in between the mic and amplification, and simply "negate" the signal.. that's it..-- mahatma, May 02 2003 Only thing is.. it would provide PERFECT SILENCE and drown out the two foreigners from different countries fighting for luggage rack space in front of you as well.
So you lose some entertainment, but it's a trade-off..-- mahatma, May 02 2003 //put circuitry in between the mic and amplification, and simply "negate" the signal// Or simply use a 50 cent pair of earplugs.-- krelnik, May 02 2003 Ow, [Krelnik]. Your occams razor is stabbing me in the back...-- mahatma, May 02 2003 'wax, there's something to be said for that. But given the choice, I think I'll stick with my 'always on' hearing.
One ear or both?-- waugsqueke, May 02 2003 random, halfbakery