My Thoughts Hold Me Captive
Readers I must confess: I fear I have Stockholm's Syndrome. Every day I wake up and all procrastinate as long as I can before my captor forces me into my chair for what I know will be several hours worth of work. When I finally go to bed at night all that fills my thoughts is the dread of another day under this cruel kidnapper. And the worst part is, I still love them. At the end of every day I cant help but feel elated at my work, and excitement for what it will one day become. Friends try to lure me away with games, snacks, and tv, but all I want to to is plow bravely forward.
Anyway, the real news is in this fun little piece of technology that I heard about on the radio a while back, and have been wanting to write about for a while. Ultrasound technology has been around since the 1960's, but it is only recently that this fun little bit of science has been directed towards advertising. (Har Har) Ultrasound uses a very very very small wavelength to create a super focused beam of sound that can only be heard when one is standing in the target area. And when heard, no matter how close the sound projecting apparatus is it sounds as if the noise is coming from right next to you.
There are tons of practical applications for technology like this. The government has started experimenting with practicality in sending covert messages. Audio Spotlight by Holosonic Research Labs advertises that their products are used in the New York public library, reminding people to be quiet, the Seattle Space needle, and even in Disney's Epcot center. The projector can be used to provide commentary on exhibits while maintaining the quiet ambiance of a museum. And all of these uses are well and good, until someone decided to take the next step.
Imagine that your walking down a street in down town Watertown Mass. All of a sudden you hear someone whispering in your ear! "Who's there? Who's there?! . . . its not your imagination!" The voice then precedes to direct your attention to an A&E billboard advertising the television series "Paranormal State", and once you pass out of range of the projector you can no longer hear the advertisement.
Now I don't want to sound too much like James here readers, but this fucking scares me! While, on the one hand it does seem pretty cool, on the other it is like: Hey, that is my head, and the only voices I want to hear are my own! I don't want to think that I need to ask the doctor for some special pills, or worse, that I am being haunted by an extremely consumerist ghost.
But all joking aside, something like this could have serious repercussions for our society. Now when you are riding the subway or stuck in traffic you have the choice to not look at all the advertisements around you, but what if ultrasound technology was used. You would be forced to listen to whoever was willing to pay the most to advertise in your head. It is all a very slipery slope thing, you know. Like at first it is just safety announcements, like "car accident 5 miles ahead, take an alternate root". Safe and harmless right? But then before you know it you are hearing advertisements broadcasted into your home during dinner time.
It is all very 1984 and I simply don't like it.
Anyway, the real news is in this fun little piece of technology that I heard about on the radio a while back, and have been wanting to write about for a while. Ultrasound technology has been around since the 1960's, but it is only recently that this fun little bit of science has been directed towards advertising. (Har Har) Ultrasound uses a very very very small wavelength to create a super focused beam of sound that can only be heard when one is standing in the target area. And when heard, no matter how close the sound projecting apparatus is it sounds as if the noise is coming from right next to you.
There are tons of practical applications for technology like this. The government has started experimenting with practicality in sending covert messages. Audio Spotlight by Holosonic Research Labs advertises that their products are used in the New York public library, reminding people to be quiet, the Seattle Space needle, and even in Disney's Epcot center. The projector can be used to provide commentary on exhibits while maintaining the quiet ambiance of a museum. And all of these uses are well and good, until someone decided to take the next step.
Imagine that your walking down a street in down town Watertown Mass. All of a sudden you hear someone whispering in your ear! "Who's there? Who's there?! . . . its not your imagination!" The voice then precedes to direct your attention to an A&E billboard advertising the television series "Paranormal State", and once you pass out of range of the projector you can no longer hear the advertisement.
Now I don't want to sound too much like James here readers, but this fucking scares me! While, on the one hand it does seem pretty cool, on the other it is like: Hey, that is my head, and the only voices I want to hear are my own! I don't want to think that I need to ask the doctor for some special pills, or worse, that I am being haunted by an extremely consumerist ghost.
But all joking aside, something like this could have serious repercussions for our society. Now when you are riding the subway or stuck in traffic you have the choice to not look at all the advertisements around you, but what if ultrasound technology was used. You would be forced to listen to whoever was willing to pay the most to advertise in your head. It is all a very slipery slope thing, you know. Like at first it is just safety announcements, like "car accident 5 miles ahead, take an alternate root". Safe and harmless right? But then before you know it you are hearing advertisements broadcasted into your home during dinner time.
It is all very 1984 and I simply don't like it.
Labels: Science, Stockholm's, Voices in your head
posted by Cathleen Kennedy | 11:44 PM
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