MIT Gizmo defends against cellphone chatter

Another isolation from clel phone chatter idea, this time by Limor Fried a graduate student at the MIT Media Laboratory. [via IEEE Spectrum via mobile|blog.it].

"She calls it the "the Wave Bubble" because it creates a cellphone-free bubble of silence 4 meters in diameter. It does so by jamming the phones' radio-frequency bands with a junk signal of a few milliwatts.

Fried made the Wave Bubble for her master's thesis, "Social Defense Mechanisms: Tools for Reclaiming Our Personal Space," which argues that electronic devices increasingly distract and annoy people and that the electronics industry has had little incentive to address the problem. She concludes that citizens must therefore explore methods of self-defense.

Fried says she isn't sure that the FCC rules forbid her from building her own jammer. In any case, she says, the rules say nothing against documenting in detail how to make one, as she has done, at http://www.mit.edu/~ladyada/thesis.pdf (13.6 mb download).

Golf Rules leave fans pining for phones

At a golf tournament, silence is not only golden, it is mandatory. Cell phones are just as taboo at Quail Hollow Club (Charlotte, NC) this week as guns and coolers, reports The Charlotte Observer.

"But tournament officials aren't expecting spectators to go cold turkey. It is a business town, after all, and half the tournament falls on workdays.

So they've set up a few tents around the course where fans can borrow a Nextel phone for free to make a few calls. When the line gets deep, they're limited to five minutes.

Rosa Mallette, who also works at one of the Nextel tents, notices the difference when she walks around the course. "It's kind of nice, not hearing 100 conversations at once," she said."

Related article:

-- Call for Cameraphone ban on Golf Tournaments - Ernie Els - The world's No.3 golfer - called on golf chiefs to ban cameras and mobile phones at all major tournaments

silenceplease.com

You can wear your feelings about the right for silence on your sleeve, so to speak, if that's the way you feel about a cellphone free environment, by ordering a t-shirt from silenceplease.com.

They sell stickers too as well but mostly cell phone jamming devices, called the mobile phone silencer which looks just like any other cell phone. It blocks all mobile signals within a range of 15 to 30 meters.

Just as a reminder, mobile jammers may be illegal to use in some countries.

[via mobile|blog.it]

The Pen Cell

The Pen Cell created by Aaron Tang (an industrial design graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design), takes technology technology to an innovative level by creating a platform that eases communication with others.

It utilizes basic text and voice technology, allowing you to write in information and see sound. This design enhances communication within any environment, loud or quiet, allowing for private and quiet conversations (Imagine being able to have a silent conversation in a restaurant without interrupting those around you). It is also an ideal solution for the hearing-impaired who depend on visual cues to communicate.

More importantly, the Pen-Cell serves as a memory aid. With today's technology, people become reliant on their devices to store information. Once that device is gone, it is difficult to recall particular pieces of information. Through the act of repetitively writing and then seeing a name and number, a user acquires a recollection of the information.

Floatables for privacy

Another isolation-from-cell-phones idea.

The floatable jellyfish-like vessels project, by Usman Haque, drift around cities to create ephemeral zones of truly private space: an absence of phone calls, emails, access of GPS devices, TV broadcasts, wireless networks and other microwave emissions. They can also provide shielding from the gaze surveillance systems.

The spaces of absence created are left to be filled with people's own sounds, alpha-waves, smells and laughters...

The vessels are powered mainly by sunlight and wind but are supplemented by inducted electricity from mobile phones and 802.11 networks.

reBlogged from near near future

Related:

-- Individual Isolation from Cell Phones

-- «La Complice» A chair to host your mobile phone

-- Silence Chair

-- The Portable Cellular Phone Booth

-- Silence Booths

-- Phones booths with phones, for cell phone privacy

Individual Isolation from Cell Phones

Another option for people trying to isolate themselves from cell phone disturbances, by Ingrid Hora, "who has focused her attention on mundane eccentricities, such as talking to oneself or listening to other people's conversations". [via near near future].

Related:

-- «La Complice» A chair to host your mobile phone

-- Silence Chair

-- The Portable Cellular Phone Booth

-- Silence Booths

-- Phones booths with phones, for cell phone privacy

The Portable Cellular Phone Booth

Another artist complaining about the lack of respect/personal interaction from those pesky cell phone users, reports Gizmodo.

"The Portable Cellular Phone Booth created by Nick Rodrigues is designed to illustrate how disrespectful people are when they dare call their friends and family in public."

Related articles:

-- Silence Booths

-- Phones booths with phones, for cell phone privacy

Silence Booths

Phone companies in the US have eliminated more than a million traditional pay phones in the past eight years, many of them in phone booths.

Now, some restaurants, libraries and other businesses are slowly bringing back phone booths, without the phone this time.

Users bring their own mobile phone and can talk as loud as they want without bothering anybody else or being asked to step outside.

In Europe, where cell phone use is ubiquitous, an industry has cropped up to make and promote modern cell phone booths.

-- Isomax Dekorative Laminate AG in Austria, is proposing that its laminate cladding boards could be used to make a booth with retractable walls.

-- Antti Evavaara, a Finnish furniture designer, has sold hundreds of mobile-phone boxes for several thousand euros each since 2002. The booths, dubbed ‘Silence', are designed for waiting areas, airports and hotel lobbies. They resemble C-shaped chairs with clear side panels. Evavaara recently announced plans to mass-produce the box in as many as 67 colours. The most popular colour so far: bright red.

[via pasta and vinegar]

Related article: - Phones booths with phones, for cell phone privacy

Photo: "Take it outside with a phone booth from London at Brooklyn Café in Sandy Springs Georgia"

Phones booths with phones, for cell phone privacy

Some restaurants, libraries and other businesses are resurrecting the phone booth -- sans phone this time -- allowing users to bring their own mobile phone and talk as loud as they want, reports the WSJ.

"In five years, it could be completely passé to be at a table in a restaurant and not get up to use the cellphone booth," says Mr. Boehm, who paid around $3,500 to install a plush, brown and blue velvet-appointed booth at his own new restaurant, called BOKA. A discreet note on the menu tells diners about the booth.

Just when many mannered folks had given up on having a civilized dinner, or library trip, without overhearing other people's conversations, a simple solution seems to be calling. Phone companies have eliminated more than a million traditional pay phones in the past eight years, many of them in phone booths, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Now, some restaurants, libraries and other businesses are slowly bringing back the phone booth, sans phone this time. Users bring their own mobile phone and can talk as loud as they want without bothering anybody else, or being asked to step outside."