A system that would convert a person’s voice into ultrasound and reconvert it back. The person would choose the receptor. Each receptor would use a different ultrasound bandwidth or the signal with start with the receptor’s ID so that only that receptor would receive the message. This has the advantage of not using radio waves or cables and would reduce the conversation noise so that the two people involved could talk at will from one end of the office to the other without bothering everyone else.
-- PauloSargaco, Oct 03 2003

I was hoping for a network of submarine-like tubes.
-- RayfordSteele, Oct 03 2003


// I was hoping for a network of submarine-like tubes //

Well, that's interesting too, but it requires infrastructure and kind of limits the places where you can mount the desks.
-- PauloSargaco, Oct 03 2003


Wait a second... You're going to take somone's voice, send it to the next cube over, and play it there? But what about the original noise? Seems to me that this will just increase the volume, adding a delay. Or are you going to have any noise-canceling? If not, how does this beat a speaker-phone? Sure you need "cables", but you already have these "cables" unless you don't have a phone.
-- Worldgineer, Oct 03 2003


You may be surprised at the amount of ultrasonic sounds in an office. Lights, computer monitors, vampire bats, and more. You’ll need special filtering. But have low enough power to avoid breaking glass, cracking bone, etc.

//a network of submarine-like tubes//
If each cubicle has a few sections of tubing, people can assemble the necessary routing overhead, as necessary.
-- Amos Kito, Oct 03 2003


[Worldgineer] Oh, ok, maybe you have a different notion on openspace. For us, here in Portugal, openspace does not involve cubicles, it really means just desks (maybe an openspace of the poor countries?).

The other thing is that the person wouldn't have to speak very loud. When I was in San Francisco, in the Science Museum they had an experience that you could try and consisted of two huge parabolic walls in front of each other sepparated by 10 meters or so. Two people would seat in front of each other and would speak normally as if they were rigth next to each other but they could still hear themselves perfectly. Other people watching this wouldn't be able to hear the conversation unless they were very close to us. So, that was basically my idea, but using a different technology.

But we could add noise cancelling to the project, though.
-- PauloSargaco, Oct 03 2003


Sorry, I know what you mean now and we have them in the US too. Same issues still apply. Seems easier to pick up a phone, where you can speak as quietly as you need.
-- Worldgineer, Oct 03 2003


Right-o. This should be renamed

"Speaking System for Open Space Offices with Big Budgets and For Some Reason, a Phone Aversion."
-- sophocles, Oct 03 2003


I vote for the name change.
-- ideafix, Aug 18 2006


<startling quiet whisper in your ear>Strangely, I like this idea now - three years later.</sqwiye>
-- Worldgineer, Aug 18 2006


//has the advantage of not using radio waves or cables// - only in the HalfBakery...
-- hippo, Aug 18 2006


I was thinking the same thing [world] surely a low volume conversation would meet the bill spot-on.
-- neilp, Aug 18 2006


[Worldgineer] I knew you would come around one day ;-)
-- PauloSargaco, Aug 24 2006



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