Active noise cancelling technology is pretty well tested. Voice recognition technology is easy to come across. However, neither are used enough...

Imagine a small 'pendant', about the size of an ipod nano. This pendant includes a microphone and speakers. Normally, it works on 'low power,' using the microphone and looking for sound to cancel out. When it recognizes a voice in its 'ignore list' -- say, someone you had an angry fight with a few days ago, and aren't ready to talk to yet -- the second function kicks in. Using noise cancelling, it 'edits' out the person's voice, letting you ignore them at your leisure

Bingo. Now you have the convenience of an ignore list without having to sit in front of the computer all day.

('Jerk' used in the title instead of the more conventional word because this is a family website.)
-- Almafeta, Sep 19 2005

Uses of the word "asshole" on the halfbakery http://www.halfbake...ion=asshole&ok=+OK+
This is definitely not a family website, if families can't know about assholes. [jutta, Sep 19 2005]

Now this is really rude http://www.halfbake...on=arsehole&ok=+OK+
Nothing to do with a donkey's alimentary terminus (please pardon the pedantry Jutta!) [ConsulFlaminicus, Sep 20 2005]

Promising. "You know you sound more like ____ every day" becomes "Huh? You know I can't hear half of what you're saying?"
-- reensure, Sep 19 2005


Noise cancellation works in headphones because they are right next to your ears. I seriously doubt the technology is capable of significantly dampening noises when placed a foot away.
-- DrCurry, Sep 19 2005


I thought noise cancellation also works because the noise that is cancelled is predictable. It doesn't work too well for speech with me - not even the headphones.
-- jutta, Sep 19 2005


The voice recognition technology that's easy enough to come across...it's capable of real time speaker identification, without a specific word/pattern reference?

When you say "'edits' out the person's voice", I'm reading that as filtering out that one specific person's voice. I can see being able to mute all of the sound, but only a specific voice in the din sounds like quite a challenge.

I imagine that a lot of advances in the state of the noise cancellation art would come about in the process of sucessfully implementing the idea as I read it.
-- half, Sep 19 2005


"OW my frikkin' ears!" (jutta's link)
-- dentworth, Sep 19 2005


Appears we are nothing more than a gaggle of asshole obsessed geeks.
-- blissmiss, Sep 19 2005


When I saw "ignore pendant", I though it would be one of those pendants which seems interesting, but which you cannot really politely examine because of its location.
-- bungston, Sep 19 2005


I read this as ignore pedant, which seemed like a good idea really. There's also 250 matches to the word 'f*ck'. (I wouldn't bother with the asterisk except that it is at a nice round number).

"This is definitely not a family website, if families can't know about assholes." is one of the more entertaining things I've heard this week.

I agree with what [half] said, I think that detecting a certain person just on their general speech is approaching magic.

I could go on but I get the feeling I am being toned out.
-- hidden truths, Sep 19 2005


I much prefer the 'La-La-La, I'm not listening" headphones from that old UK TV advert.
-- Salmon Of Doubt, Feb 24 2006



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