Scientists Create Gun That Physically Stops You From Talking

[Tropico1]

I can assure you that it is nearly -impossible- to speak over yourself like that, you end up tripping over your own words and are rendered unable to complete even simple sentences.

Oh come on, seriously? This is a gaming website. You are not a gamer if 1) you haven't had this experience of "guy on voice not wearing a headset" about 100 times and 2) rolled your eyes the 50th time it happens and just learn to speak over it and get on with the game.

Are you seriously telling me that if a single person in your TS group or whatever doesn't or can't wear a headset/earpones then that's it? Everybody plays in complete silence from then on? Come on.

 

[Samurai Silhouette]

Snip

Oh look, someone without a sense of humor. Hey guys, we made a joke about guns! We must really shoot people!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadpan

Also, if you want something that doesn't cost millions, you can just, you know, interrupt the person? Because spending stupid amounts of money to force etiquette in a normal conversation is really important.

 

[dashiz94]

They actually made a gun that can kill freedom of speech. I see no way this can be missused in the wrong hands. Nope, nothing comes to mind, not a single thing.

Relax mate, I highly doubt this thing is going to become immensely public, and if a couple university kids have created this, then assuredly the "big, evil government" has known about it and clearly hasn't used it yet.

That, and you can't point a gun at the internet and shut the trolls up.

 

[Sovereignty]

Finally a way to make public debates fair. You want to speak out of turn!? ZAP! You want to try and talk over your opponent? BAM! You want to roll your eyes and grin to try and nullify the points they're making to the audience? Too bad.

 

[MrGalactus]

It's like the passive aggressive version of the Hitchhikers POV gun.

Im pretty sure a regular gun stops you from talking too.

This is actually a good point. Regular gun works long-term, too.
Your move, science.

 

[Guardian of Nekops]

If it relies on a mental glitch then chances are that at some point people are going to be able to overcome it and render this thing even more useless.

I have the solution!

Stick your fingers in your ears. That way, you can't hear the feedback and you can be as obnoxious as you like.

Still, if you do that you'll clearly look even more childish than you apparently already do, and you'll be leaving your tummy uncovered so they can knock the wind out of you and shut you up that way.

Still, sounds like an interesting device. Be about as fun to play with as a laser pointer... I can see them showing up in classrooms if they get small and cheap enough. Poor teachers.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Seems like it wouldn't work at all on people who are determined to yell (i.e.: anyone yelling in the first place). They'll just hear themselves a bit stupid (like how the rest of us hear them all the time, lol).

 

[dubious_wolf]

This won't work.
Anyone capable of interrupting a conversation to the degree that using this devise would be necessary, can block out ambient noise (i.e. you speaking) to the point that they would be able to easily ignore this device.

 

[Kyrian007]

You guys do realize that this probably wouldn't work on everyone. For example, trained broadcast professionals like Rush Limbaugh have been trained over the years to be able to listen to themselves as they speak. When you call in to a radio show, they tell you to turn down your radio because most people who call do not have the ability to listen to themselves on the radio as they speak on the phone. I tried it once with my computer microphone and it definitely worked on me. Sorry to rain on the parade of you libs, but talk radio hosts would most likely be immune to this...

This is absolutely true (except the partisan politics B.S. that someone shoehorned into a topic in which it had no place.) As someone who works in broadcast media (specifically talk radio) I can say that the effect is informally called "mix/minus" and it happens when you feed a studio signal back to a remote site with the remote audio. Current audio tech allows you to eliminate specific audio sources to feed back so there is no mix/minus, but all it takes is 1 engineer forgetting to turn down one feed any you have to learn to deal with it (until the next break when you can go Bale all over the engineer.) Rush probably did learn to ignore mix/minus at some point, but it wouldn't work on him now because he is almost entirely deaf and would not hear the delay signal.

But...

I can assure you that it is nearly -impossible- to speak over yourself like that, you end up tripping over your own words and are rendered unable to complete even simple sentences.

Oh come on, seriously? This is a gaming website. You are not a gamer if 1) you haven't had this experience of "guy on voice not wearing a headset" about 100 times and 2) rolled your eyes the 50th time it happens and just learn to speak over it and get on with the game.

Are you seriously telling me that if a single person in your TS group or whatever doesn't or can't wear a headset/earpones then that's it? Everybody plays in complete silence from then on? Come on.

It's not the same thing. Val is correct, it is disorienting in a way that would indeed render most people unable to converse normally. I once saw a mix/minus delay trigger a migraine headache that rendered someone comatose. Conversely I've seen a sportscaster just keep going (although he did flip the bird to his producer.) It's not something you deal with in teamspeak and until you actually experience it you would have no chance to even tell if you could teach yourself to ignore it. I've learned to ignore it, but can't do it for an extended amount of time. I'm an epileptic and mix/minus has triggered a petit mal seizure before.

 

[TheMann]

I can imagine this at the Oscars.

This. This has to be the best possible use for a device that makes it difficult for a person to speak properly. I'd actually watch the show just to see a bunch of pretentious, self-aggrandizing actors stumbling over sentences like a toddler blubbering for a Pop Tart that's just out of reach on the kitchen table. [My rant about the Academy Awards would usually go here, but I'll let you imagine my wrath this time.] If Japan can make an attachment that causes them to drool at the same time, the Oscars would be the highest rated show ever.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

*golf clap*
Nice to see we have a brain trust going on in the exact opposite direction here. You guys should take some time and think about the consequences of using such violence on someone who is just overusing their yap.
See you after 25 years to life.

Well if someone really wants someone to shut up so much they would buy a gun that forces them to be unable to talk, I doubt they'd have much problem with intimidation.

 

[Phishfood]

Shut up and take my money!

 

[Thedutchjelle]

and here I though it would use noise cancellation

hit their voice with the opposite soundwave and it cancels it out, while they can still talk, the sound won't make it to you, or it'll be significantly reduced

The problem with that is that the soundwaves will have to be produced at nearly the same time for that effect.
Which is difficult in speech, as it's unpredictable and the frequencies go all over the place.

It works fine with static equipment, such as machinery.

Fox News better hope I never get my hands on that gun.

Actually, we already have a gun that can shut people from Fox News up. No seriously! We can go to any electronic store and pick it up for 10 dollars (or around that range). Its cheap and doesn't hurt them at all, and it will shut them up every time! Its called a remote control.

On-topic: I'm not sure how the technology actually works, but maybe a visual example (like a youtube video) might help explain it. If this works, I would love to have one of those around the house. >.>

When you talk, as the article tries to explain, you don't only "talk". You listen to your own voice to properly control it. One of the ways this becomes appearant is if you put on headphones with loud music and start talking to someoene - most likely your voice will be much louder, as you can't hear it properly yourself.
In most people this goes automaticly, but once you listened to a deaf person trying to speak you'll know what I mean.

This technology takes what you said and throws it back at you only a few milliseconds later. This messes up that feedback system in your brain and it becomes hard to speak.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

So the Japanese have made a device that functions similarly to Skype when I'm talking to someone using a standing microphone, speakers and isn't on push to talk?

Good thing I'm versed in talking over myself then.

Yeah exactly. I would bet everything I have that this gun would not be able to stop me obnoxiously speaking if I wanted to. I mean yeah I may not be able to speak properly or regulate volume but I would get used to it. (who needs to do those things when they talk anyway)

 

[Strazdas]

You have not enough minerals to produce such a device.
that is all.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Well is a terrible idea, also ridiculously easy to make yourself - it's only an 'invention' cause the idea is stupid to begin with.

 

[AdamG3691]

if someone's so arrogant that they need to physically be forced into not speaking, I get the feeling that stumbling over their words won't stop them.

the stopping talking is entirely voluntary, the gun doesn't stop you talking, just make it sound funny to you.

if anything, it would make the problem worse since they... would... just start... talking... like Spock... to pronounce... things... correctly.