Device-to-device audio communication (think QR codes, but made out of sound) seems very underrated. Much better UX than QR codes or NFC because you don't have to worry about putting your phone in the exactly right place or pointing it in the right direction. Anyone here with more detailed takes on this?
I feel like there could be a lot of crypto wallet applications.
Embedding crypto signatures in audio sounds very fun. I’m imagining R2D2-like conversations or call & response melodies.
A developer friend of mine was working on exactly that many years ago. I will find out what happened.
shazam easily identifies the song playing. Its a good starting point to think about this https://www.shazam.com/home
Non-expert personal opinion: Audio communication is susceptible to interference, especially over longer distances. If devices need to be in very close proximity, why not go back to NFC? Perhaps using Bluetooth or WiFi that many devices already have could be a more general choice.
Maybe something like an OpenDime for ETH, that may not have a display for a QR code, and that you wouldn't want to hand to a counterparty for them to scan an NFC to validate the contents? Instead, the counterparty's mobile wallet can transmit a nonce, and the OpenDime can respond with its address and a signed message.
Google tried using audio communication technology for pairing with ChromeCast (https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20140627-chromecast-ultrasonic-authorization/). Not sure why they stopped using this.
Beacon technology also seems underrated to me. You can give a free mint to anyone who enters a store and have a specific app downloaded. Could be great for rewards programs.
Should be outside of human (and dog) spectrum so it doesn't annoy anyone
Some physical store tried this almost 10 years back. Walk in to a specific section of store, install app, will capture Audio signature and give rewards. Kids recorded the audio clip being played and farmed 😂. Idk it seems QR code is much cheaper for places like India. Audio will need an emitter as well. Cost.
Interesting, but I think the world is noisy enough already :(
I’m imagining the entrance to a stadium sounding like a pond full of frogs as everyone passes through the turnstiles 🐸 🔊
Imagine getting drained because your phone heard an invisible sound frequency
Sort of like fax machines communicating out loud and in person...
I actually tried to build this with a friend a few years ago. We got a POC, but basically hit a roadblock when we started looking into how lossy/low fidelity speakers and receivers were. It's been a while, tech might've caught up by now.
Reminds me of this: https://usa.kaspersky.com/blog/pc-speaker-data-exfiltration/28077/
Sonos uses an audio pin to pair a new speaker and your phone.
It would be ideal if you could do it in the high frequency range. Then you could play it on loop and have a really nice UX. But if I remember right this is lossy and it’s very hard to get the error correction right.
Is that not precisely what is getting exploited in this scene from Hackers:
Is this the 80s all over again? When people would broadcast computer games by playing the tapes they were on, over pirate radio?
It might be interesting to check the history of CueCat. https://web.archive.org/web/20001017162623/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2000/nf20000928_029.htm (scan for "audio" in the article.) For some reason I have the impression that Amazon bought them eventually.
android has a nearby api that use ultrasonic sound to communicate in this way.
Could be useful for setting verbal agreements into stone via smart contract. No more risk with conflicting memories or gentlemen’s agreements.
10 years ago the Chirp app seemed really promising in this space ... alas, it didn't make it. RIP Chirp! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLaFpq5fvlM
Surprised nobody mentioned Clinkle yet. https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-rctom/submission/clinkle-how-to-go-from-a-soon-to-be-unicorn-to-complete-failure-in-one-year/
idk man... acoustic weapons vibez https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10096626/1/On_the_Feasibility_of_Acoustic_Attacks_Using_Commodity_Smart_Devices__camera_version_.pdf
Seems like the tech could create scenes from Japanese anime where characters control robots using flutes to launch attacks.
We built this for payments in India on low-end devices, enabling peer-to-peer and merchant payments. App was initially called Tez and is now called Google Pay India. It works! https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/18/16325004/tez-google-india-audio-qr-cash-payments
would love to try it. NFC works amazingly in apple pay--smoothest, fastest experience i've ever had transacting. unfortunately not possible for in-app P2P transactions due to apple restrictions. NFC uses "device" (tapper) & "card" mode (tapped). Android can do both, iPhone apps are only allowed do the former.
Older fintech ppl will remember this as the original Clinkle pitch!
Are there any examples of applications that already exist? Curious to try this out in art exhibitions.
Only if it’s in super sonic dog tones. The animal planet gonna get wonky
I can see AI voice imitation. Also if you say something by mistake somewhere or there is hidden voice device, might give accidental access to it
They had something similar in Japan when I was living there before smartphones were a thing, in 2008-2009. Basically, you would ask your phone to exchange contact details with another, and hold their wireless sensor next to the other phone's sensor, and boom, done. It was a nice social ritual too.
Think I’ve seen something like this from google where you could send a link via a sound, was quite a cool little feature.
I built an app that did this about 10 years ago that did offline TXs. issues we ran into: - poor microphones at the time on android meant (iPhones were fine) we were relegated to them - there’s a lot of noise in the world - bit rate on audible sound spectrum is slow
12 years ago I worked on a using multiple sensors called "Proxignos" — I know horrible name. The idea was to use multiple mobile sensors to statistically improve probability that two devices were in the same location using GPS, accelerometer, camera, a 5 second audio clip, and device time.
My understanding is that this was a key feature for early Zoom adoption. Pre-covid their video conferencing software was seamless in the office. You’d always share to the correct screen, easily join the current meeting, etc. And seems they way they did it was with sound.
In this app whistling 2600hz should shut down the phone though. JustForFun
I think it's an interesting concept and could be useful in certain situations.
Yes, especially if sent on a high frequency. Someone should do a general sound frequency analysis of cities and areas. Would be helpful in figuring out the efficacy of such a system.
Data you can put through this would be tiny given audio is up to 20kHz and WiFi is 2.4-5GHz. Perhaps good for authentication or one-time actions but not for streaming.
Radio industry uses a sub-sonic frequency with a SMPTE-like timecode to measure listenership. Think QR audio as a never-ending radioprint for FM stations. This is the foundation of Nielsen PPM.