Now Thats A Good Idea

Elwood "Woody" Norris has been named the 2005 winner of the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for his remarkable inventions including HyperSonic Sound, which targets sound to individual listeners His sound-focusing invention, known as HyperSonic Sound, starts by generating ultrasonic — above the range of human hearing — sound waves, which can be focused in a tight beam rather than spreading out in all directions. As these high-frequency sound waves pass through the air, they generate lower-frequency sounds that people can hear. By stepping into the "beam," a person can hear sound that someone standing a foot or more away can't detect. "It's going to quiet everything down," Norris said. "If you don't want to be bothered by it, you step to one side and you don't hear it." San Diego-based American Technology Corp., which Norris founded in 1980, is working on commercial applications with automobile companies, supermarket chains, museums, airports and the Department of Defense. In cars, the technology could allow parents to listen to their favorite music in the front seats while kids in back choose their own. An airport terminal message could be beamed only to travelers in a specific area while not disturbing everyone else. A supermarket promoting a sale on cereal could project a sales pitch to shoppers in the cereal aisle.