By Andrew Liszewski
For years advertisers have been trying to find ways to enhance TV broadcasts. Commercials are one thing, but being able to sell you the exact suit a stylish character is wearing, or finance a vehicle you see in an exciting car chase has been a dream for them. Microsoft’s old WebTV had features like that, though it wasn’t exactly a runaway success. But this morning Yamaha successfully tested a new concept for passing along extra info to consumers that has a lot of promise. Mostly because it’s completely unobtrusive.
Their new ‘Infosaundo’ or ‘INFOSOUND’ technology broadcasts an inaudible (to humans at least) 18kHz or higher signal that’s picked up by a smartphone’s mic and converted into data, or a URL, or some kind of enhanced data via a special app. The system, which has a range of ~33 feet, isn’t exactly high-bandwidth. It’s limited to a mere 80 bits per second, but that’s more than enough to pass along a web address which can then lead to more downloadable content.
[ (Translated) PR – Infosaundo new acoustic communications technology (INFOSOUND) Announces Demonstration of television ] VIA [ (Translated) AV Watch ]
