How Engineers Create Artificial Sounds to Fool Us
news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk
For example, if you turn down the volume to zero and set my phone to manner mode, it will ring on taking a picture loud enough to hear 20 feet away.
Similarly, current model electric cars (Prius et al) are designed to run less silent in certain circumstances, mostly for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists around blind corners. (I don't know if they shipped that one to the US yet.)
Anyway is there a sound when you take video on yours?
Because if not, it seems kinda pointless.
I have a Sharp camera-phone, and in manner mode it does make a sound when taking any picture - except for the OCR and business card reading modes, in which it's impossible to save the image anyway. I found it inconvenient when I was at university and wanted to take the blackboard...
I've seen silent regular cameras, though.
I assume by sexual misconduct you mean someone taking pictures in the bedroom (as opposed to photographing women at the beach, which is public space - unless specifically prohibited). I feel that is too specific a protection to make the lives of legit photographers difficult. Instead, more severe punishments could be implemented to protect men and women whose sex videos are filmed without consent.
More likely taking photos of someone in a semi-public place, e.g. changing rooms, on a train, in a café, etc.
Nissan's new electric vehicle has a speaker fitted under its bonnet and a synthesiser in the dash to generate engine noise.
makes me so aggressive, I cannot even tell you. I think when you've never experienced any other kind of car than a loud one, then yes, you will start relying on your ears when you cross the street. But I think that's just a matter of what you're used to. If cars always had electric engines from the beginning, do you think people would get run over all the time today? I don't think so, because they would have adapted.
I think the transition from combustion to electric engines will be slow enough for people to adapt to them. And gosh, it would be such a niecer world with less car noise...
Or what about people walking down the street and a car creeping up on them from behind. It's scary having things rush past from behind if there is no warning. Let alone very dangerous.
As much as you might think humans are awesome and only need eyes, fact is that as most other animals, when it comes to danger, we mostly rely on our ears.
That's why phones ring. That's why fire alarms ring. That's why alarm clocks ring. Everything that needs our immediate and utmost attention ... is loud.
Blind people usually don't simply jaywalk a crowded street, they cross at the lights. And you'd still be able to hear moving cars.
I don't think phones ring because we rely on our ears in times of danger. It's because hearing is one of the senses that doesn't require exclusive focus (you would not want to stare at your phone all day until it starts blinking, although in some offices they do). Smell and taste wouldn't be alternatives for obvious reasons, but feel could be, and in fact phones can vibrate. Some wrist alarm clocks do too. And fire alarms are nothing we're exposed to every hour of the day.
I acknowledge that the fact that cars are pretty loud could be helpful in reducing accidents. But apparently your theory has a flaw, or else no one would ever get hit by a car. Now, one could say that more people would get hit by cars if all cars were super-silent, but my original point was that this is just because we're not (yet) used to more silent cars. I think pedestrians would change their behavior and get used to them.
For people living on highly frequented roads, continous noise can become a very stressful factor. It drastically reduces quality of life and can negatively affect your psychological and physical health. That doesn't mean that every person living on a busy street gets sick. But I would still argue in favor of reducing noise where possible, and more silent engines could be one factor.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a research report last year that hybrid vehicles are twice as likely to be involved in pedestrian crashes at low speeds compared with conventional vehicles. The study looked at circumstances in which vehicles were slowing down or stopping, backing up or entering or departing a parking space.
And for sheer quantities:
Nearly 4,100 pedestrians were killed and 59,000 were injured in 2009, according to the most recent data available.
And for how the blind themselves feel, rather than our guesses:
Blind pedestrians have pushed for the changes, saying the quiet purr of hybrids can pose risks for them because they use sound cues to travel safely.
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/stories/hybrid-...
One could say the same about cars. Silent cars would require much more focus and no amount of adapting will change that.
But you do get used to that - you simply start looking out more carefully.
I see no reason why it should be different with cars, especially since you would probably hear even a silent car more easily than a bike.
All cars within earshot need my immediate and utmost attention?! Nonsense.
(I don't know how much quieter a street full of electric cars would actually be. Would like to find out.)
The noise that is makes is barely audible from within the car. It is a very faint whistling / turbine sort of noise, and I have to turn it on and off to get my passengers to hear it, even with the windows open.
Additionally, there is a switch to turn it off if one hates it. However, after driving this car daily for a few months, I wish it were louder. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten stuck behind a pedestrian or biker who is proceeding directly down the middle of a street or parking lot, and has no idea I am behind them. I creep along at 5 miles an hour, and I can either honk at them (very rude), or just wait for them to notice me. They usually figure it out after 30 seconds or so, and many times they jump and do a double take when they realize I "snuck up" behind them. A little more artificial noise would eliminate this problem.
// A car horn is there to allow you to warn other road users of your presence. Sounding the horn to make someone aware you are there makes things safer, they avoid being run over. If they scowl at you then smile broadly and wave.
Recently I've noticed where I am people have stopped saying "excuse me" (the pedestrian equivalent or beeping your horn) they just stand waiting. I find it annoying as that can mean you're delaying someone without knowing it.
The danger is based entirely on people needing to adjust their assumptions about cars, which has basically already happened for people in the United States, where hybrids are now commonplace. The longer we can hold off this insanity the more obvious it will be that it is insanity. Who in 2015 will assume that cars are noisy, if we don't commit the folly of making them noisy? In 2020? Or we could choose to make cars noisy now and be stuck with the noise pollution forever.
Logically, there is no reason to include such a useless feature into an MP3 player. But apparently the perfectionists at Apple's design department felt the clicking sound of the mechanical wheel on the old iPods was an essential part of the user experience. And that's the difference between Apple and the manufacturers of cheaper clones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-tone_multi-frequency_signa...
p.s. I'm a horrible speller, Somebody make a keyboard app with a spell checker, eh?
Good quality in this context doesn't necessarily mean audiophile sound quality, it means consistently high performance and low failure rates over many years of abuse.
As I said, when you get to the really top end stuff, it stops holding true. Weight is the last thing to be optimised as you go upmarket.
This is pro audio gear I'm talking about, not so called "high end" consumer stuff. I mean the stuff which has rackmounting brackets, not the stuff with a delicate finish. "Audiophile" kit is synonymous with snake-oil, as that guy who came into your college demonstrated.
But then, as a motorcyclist I pay more attention than just about any driver (including myself when I'm behind a wheel). For example, I'm never surprised by a vehicle suddenly appearing in my rear view mirror on a bike, because I move my eyes in a reflexive pattern between the road and both mirrors every few seconds.
If you're really paying attention, sound is almost a non-issue on the road - but that puts you in a very small minority of road users.