Hasta La Gadget!

You can convey a lot of things through touch. You can give a sympathetic hug, a joyous high-five or an angry punch. But Disney Research Pittsburgh came up with an interactive installation that can transmit sound using the human body. The sound will then be heard when a carrier touches someone’s ears. This means you can transmit a verbal message through touch.

The researchers call their invention Ishin-denshin, after a Japanese idiom that describes “unspoken mutual understanding.” Ishin-denshin consists of a microphone connected to a computer’s sound card. There’s also a thin piece of wire connected to the microphone’s cable and wrapped around its metallic casing. The microphone is set to start recording when it receives sound with an amplitude above a preset threshold, presumably so it won’t record ambient noise.  The recorded loop is sent to the computer, which converts the sound into a high voltage but low current electric signal and sends it to the thin piece of wire. The signal is then transferred to the person holding the mic, who can then pass it on to someone else via touch. The signal can be passed to multiple people before it’s directed to someone’s ear.

I wonder if it’s possible to make a visual version of the Ishin-denshin.

[via Disney Research & New Scientist via NOTCOT]

The high-tech 80s cassette tape has had its 50th birthday. I can remember growing up my dad had an old car that had an eight-track tape player. I have vivid memories of him getting angry every time I touched his 8-track tape collection and I recall how big those tapes were. The next big move […]

When it comes to audio products, Sony’s Walkman brand is one that is well-known around the world, although it has since moved on from offering up portable cassette players to portable media players and 3-in-1 devices like the recently introduced NWZ-WH505 and the NWZ-WH303, both of which have the ability to act as headphones, an MP3 player, as well as surround sound speakers! As you can see in the image above, the end result is a pretty sleek pair of headphones, although how heavy it is given all of its functions and features, and how good its audio quality is remains to be seen.

Starting with the WH505, this is the top of the range model and will offer up 16GB of storage, which according to Sony should be good for about 4,000 songs. It will support a wide range of audio formats and will sport 40mm dome type headphone drivers, and with its xLoud and VPT technology, it turns the WH505 into a somewhat decent pair of speakers as well. As a finishing touch, the WH505 will also have its logo built with backlit LED lights.

The WH303 model will offer up similar features, although it will offer less storage at 4GB and its headphone drivers at 30mm. It too will include the backlit logo and will offer listeners up to 20 hours on a single recharge. Pricing of either pair of headphones have yet to be announced, along with their availability.

Sony Unveils New 3-In-1 Walkman Headphones original content from Ubergizmo.

We’ve sad news to report today in the world of audio: Ray Dolby has passed on. His death comes relatively soon after losing both Dr. Fritz Sennheiser and Dr. Amar Bose, and as with those two gentlemen, Dolby’s legacy will continue to impact viewers and listeners around the globe for many years to come. Dolby founded Dolby Laboratories in 1965, seeking to provide a place for like-minded engineers to “push the limits of sight and sound,” as is stated on the outfit’s homepage.

He is perhaps best known for the Dolby noise-reduction system, and in more modern times, for his company’s iconic stamp on just about every major motion picture and piece of AV equipment known to man. Dolby’s surround sound magic continues to lead the industry, with Dolby 3D and Dolby Atmos as its latest contributions. Ray Dolby was 80 years old, and is survived by his wife Dagmar as well as sons Tom and David. A tribute video compiled by Dolby Labs can be found after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Dolby, Twitter (Dolby)

Earlier this year Sony released a pair of waterproof and tiny earphones that were also mp3 players. Today they announced two more versatile headphones called the WH Series, aka the 3-in-1 Walkman. These headphones also have built-in mp3 players, but you can also plug them into other media players as normal headphones. Finally, the headphones can supposedly also be used as personal speakers, although I think Sony may have cheated with a bit with this claim.

The 3-in-1 Walkman comes in two models. The NWZ-WH303 has 4GB of storage and a 30mm headphone driver, while the NWZ-WH505 has 16GB of storage and a 40mm headphone driver. The WH303 will be available in black and white while the higher end WH505 will only come in black. Both models can play music for up to 20 hours on their rechargeable battery. But as I said, even if they run out of power, you can still use these as normal headphones using a supplied cable.

Finally, by swiveling the ear cups outward and activating its “surround sound” mode, you’ll be able to listen to your music without wearing the headphones. Then again, you can do that with any pair of headphones with swiveling cups. The difference here would be the quality of the sound. Sadly Sony didn’t demo this feature in their product video.

According to Sony Europe, the 3-in-1 Walkman should be available in the UK 10/2013. The NWZ-WH303 will sell for £99 (~$160 USD) while the NWZ-WH505 will sell for £179 (~$280 USD). Barring any problems with their sound quality, these seem to be practical gadgets to have. But I think they’d be more enticing if, instead of the gimmicky speaker mode, you could wirelessly transfer music between the headphones and your media player.

[via Sony via Geeky Gadgets & Engadget]