Beyond the smartphone: Turning data into sound

[Editors Note: ToneTag a Indian startup is a intresting case here]

Using sound technology to connect devices far extends the reach of smartphone and smart device based applications alone, says Moran Lerner, chief executive officer of Chirp.

Sound technology has the ability to connect humans to machines in a variety of ways. Using sound to transfer data is not a new concept. Think back to dial-up modems where sound was used in the earliest examples of networked computers.

Now, a technique called modulation/ demodulation allows data to be encoded into a series of pitches and tones that can be transmitted over the air that, on receipt, can be decoded by a receiving device, or group of devices. This could be referred to as a ‘sonic barcode’. Additional techniques for enabling devices to interact include audio triggering – allowing a device or a group of devices to react to existing audio.

Similar to (RF) based networking technologies including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, sound is omni-directional. That means it is perfect for broadcasting data in a ‘one to many’ network configuration to devices which have no prior interaction or association.

Sound can also work entirely as peer-to-peer, meaning no additional connections are needed to ‘the cloud’ or other network services, making it ideal for situations where there is no other network access, reaching network ‘notspots’.

For example, in Industrial IoT, particularly within safety critical environments, the use of sound technology can provide communication capabilities to machines that have, to date, been isolated. For example, nuclear power stations cannot use RF based networking technology for fear of interference, and so therefore sound can create an IoT network in an RF restricted environment.

Another example which pushes the boundaries of this technology beyond the smartphone can be seen in children’s entertainment. Hijinx Toys, an interactive toy company, brought its Beat Bugs toys to life through sound technology, allowing them to sing along with the Netflix show whilst remaining completely offline. In this instance, the toys recognise portions of the show’s existing audio and synchronise with the characters as they sing on screen.

See Also :

Chirp, a data-over-sound provider, along with partner EDF Energy, has been awarded £100,000 (€114206.50) by Innovate UK to trial a new project taking place at the company’s Heysham 1 power station.

Chirp and EDF Energy secure £100k Innovate UK funding to trial data-over-sound solutions in nuclear power plants