Careful Where You Point That Thing!

Illustration by John Sauer – johnsauer.com

https://fohonline.com/articles/foh-at-large/careful-where-you-point-that-thing/

Back in 2005, I wrote about how the use of the Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) was used to repel Somali pirates who were attacking a cruise ship. Sonic weapons are deployed by the military and described as non-lethal, although that may not be true depending upon the amount of time of the recipient is exposed. These sound cannons have been in use by the military and have also been used by local city police forces as well. These devices can project a voice or recording up to three hundred yards as well as incapacitating a person with excruciating levels of audio signal (about 160 dB at full force). These cannons can also immobilize an unlucky victim in a more visceral way with lower frequencies. In fact, New York City has been sued by protesters, journalists and bystanders who objected to the sound cannon’s use as excessive force, while in Pittsburgh, a bystander suffered permanent hearing loss from an LRAD attack in 2009 and was awarded $72,000. The use of LRADs has also been associated with dizziness and migraines for those who have been exposed.

‡‡         I Hear Voices…

As a communications system, LRAD has been used by Navy destroyers to communicate with small ships at great distances by aiming it at one of the crewmembers and speaking directly to them. The Navy crewmen transmitting these focused sounds often noticed how frightened the recipient was at receiving these personal messages even after realizing that it was coming from the Navy ship. Then, not being one to pass on a devilish idea, the military brass supposedly created a new weapon that could make people believe that they were hearing voices in their heads. I say supposedly, as no one in the military is actually admitting to possessing the weapon, but there are rumors that it is being used to convince Islamic terrorists to surrender by putting the word of God into the heads.

In 2013, at the Washington Navy Yard, Navy reservist Aaron Alexis went on a spree and killed 12 people before being killed in a shootout with police. Apparently, before the rampage, he had complained to friends about hearing voices and receiving vibrations from a microwave machine. It seems that “hearing voices” is a common thread running through the psychology of serial killers, but the fact that this event took place on a military base and a microwave machine was mentioned makes one wonder. During World War II, there were reports by those working near radar transponders of hearing clicks and even speech directly inside their heads. In 1961, neuroscientist Allan H. Frey published his “Human Auditory System Response to Modulated Electromagnetic Energy” in the Journal of Physiology, which described his studies and experiments with the microwave auditory effect (MAE), which has now become known as the Frey Effect.

‡‡         Brain Drain

In 1975, there were successful experiments with voice modulated microwaves, but the conclusion derived from the experiments was that this would be an impractical tool since the radiation from the high-power microwave transmission would cause brain damage. This, of course, brings to mind the recent attacks on diplomats in Cuba and China where it was concluded that the symptoms experienced by these government workers were most likely caused by directed microwave radiation. That said, the frequencies of the brain have been mapped with Beta at 12-35 Hz, which is active; Alpha from 8-12 Hz, which is very relaxed; Theta 4-8 Hz, deeply relaxed; and Delta 0.5-4 Hz, corresponding to sleep. Of course, there is no point in mapping the frequencies of the brain unless the technology can be put to use and sure enough, by beaming powerful pulses of electromagnetic radiation into the brain a scientist can roadblock or stimulate these specific circuits of the brain.

The use of ultrasonic waves to create beams of sound was being explored in the 1960s by the U.S. Navy and its Soviet counterpart, but this technology wasn’t available until the early 2000s, when “Holosonic Research Labs” — a company formed by F. Joseph Pompei of MIT — commercially released its “Audio Spotlight,” which is a narrow beam of sound that can be controlled in much the same way as the light from a spotlight. Of course, this technology seems to be similar to the technology used in LRAD, albeit in a more benign form; as in tradeshows, museums, hospitals and retail to name a few. My understanding is that if someone should walk across the beam of sound, the beam can be broken in the same way as a beam of light. Therefore, it seems that the best applications for this technology are with the spotlight speakers placed directly above the listener and not at an angle directed to the listener. Since our audio focus is directed towards delivering a band’s sound to a large audience, this pretty much removes this technology from our world of concert touring, but while we won’t be employing LRAD or Audio Spotlights, there is a new innovation that has piqued my interest.

‡‡         Feed Your Head

An Israeli company by the name of Noveto announced its newly released SoundBeamer 1.0, a commercial product that beams sound directly into the listener’s head. Well, not actually into the head, but directly to the listener’s ears without the use of headphones. It can even follow the listener as they move their head around by using a sensing module that sends 3D audio via ultrasonic waves. These ultrasonic waves create pockets surrounding the listener’s ears that only they can hear. The sound beam can also be fixed, allowing the listener to walk in and out of the beam.

‡‡         An Onstage Solution

While this commercially new sound beaming technology is being explored and developed for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality applications, one can easily envision the day when the technology can be used in a live concert situation, replacing in ear monitors with beaming monitors. After all, the technology has been in use by the military for about 20 years, which is about the right amount of time before release for public consumption. As a multi-purpose tool, just think what a boon this could be for sound and security if a fan rushes the stage. The monitor engineer can turn the sound beam into an LRAD and incapacitate the unruly fan without disrupting the show, or in a really suave move, the engineer could hit the fan with the voice of God and threaten to smite them for their trespass if they do not immediately leave the stage.