Miss Piggy Lunchbox

The author’s joking, but I would totally buy this, the perfect combination of technology, music, protection of my ears, and employment of our knowledge of perception.

Turning the volume up is nice, but once you’ve turned it up you get used to the new level (because of adaptation) and so shortly turn it up again, and so on.

Now the Adaptive Stereo is here to solve this growing problem of noise pollution and associated hearing damage. Psychologists have known for a long time that if you change the magnitude of a stimulus by small amounts it isn’t detectable…. The Adaptive Stereo takes advantage of this fact, alongside precise calibration according to the human auditory capacity, to continually reduce the volume it plays at, but at a rate below the just noticeable difference. Auditory adaptation ensures that people will adjust to the new volume level, within a reasonable range, so they will be able to hear the music just as well, but simultaneously a) saving their hearing from permanent damage and b) allowing you to continuously turn up the volume on your favourite songs without the music getting any louder on average!

Now when I need that extra push when I’m running I won’t be damaging my ears.

I wasn’t quite sure I believed it when it was mentioned in my speech technology class, but this article from the BBC has some really cool findings about how elephants communicate through their feet, using the ground as an acoustic medium.

“We are focusing on the idea that elephants may be able to detect seismic vibrations through the earth,” explained fellow researcher Lynette Hart, from University of California, Davis.

“That would give them information about the location of other elephants, whether they are in distress, if they are family members and also tell them something about distant weather patterns.”

…

By sensing the seismic waves caused by the foot stomping of their counterparts, the elephants may be able to interpret the warning signals of far-off danger.

“[Elephants] are highly social; they vocalise often and they like to maintain acoustic contact with other herds.

“If they were able to do this over a much longer distance, then elephants could forage at much longer distances in the dry season and still maintain social contact.

That’s it.  I have nothing else on this front.