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It's funny. Laugh. Technology

Phone Plus Sensory Deprivation Equals... 337

Posted by michael from the hold-on-I've-got-a-call-on-the-other-line dept.
Solo-Malee writes "The BBC has an article about a new phone technology that isolates the user from all other sensory input. This in theory means the user is not distracted by other things occurring in their immediate surroundings. If these catch on, it looks like getting a Jacuzzi for the office could be easier than you might expect."
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Phone Plus Sensory Deprivation Equals... More

Phone Plus Sensory Deprivation Equals...

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  • The phone is your leash (Score:4, Interesting)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:54AM (#6941892) Homepage Journal

    [PET_PEEVE-2978741]

    This in theory means the user is not distracted by other things occurring in their immediate surroundings.

    For me the phone is a major distraction. When I'm busy I don't want a damn phone call from anyone. Unfortunately some people live by the phone; watch when a phone rings and see how people jump to answer it. Screw that: the phone is a convenient tool for me not a backdoor by which others can invade my space and privacy.

    When I had a land-line at the house I didn't own an answering machine. Caller ID let me know who called and I could decide if a return call was warranted because once a message is left the onus is on you to call back. I have just my cell now and don't give out the number to non-friends & family. Take control of your life, the phone isn't your master.

    [/PET_PEEVE-2978741]

    • Re:The phone is your leash (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jeffkjo1 ( 663413 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:21AM (#6942147) Homepage
      Caller ID let me know who called and I could ecide if a return call was warranted because once a message is left the onus is on you to call back.

      I can't stand you people... at least once a month, I get a call from someone that says, "Hi, I have your number in my caller id."
      And I reply, "Ok, who are you?"
      "I am such and such, you called my house."
      "6 people live in my household. I don't know who called you. Were you expecting a call from us?"

      And then they get all annoyed because they realize that they have no idea why they called. Meanwhile, you interrupted my chicken salad sandwich.

      • Re:The phone is your leash (Score:5, Funny)

        by kzinti ( 9651 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:24AM (#6942176) Homepage Journal
        Meanwhile, you interrupted my chicken salad sandwich.

        I eat ham & cheese and this never happens to me. Maybe you should try switching sandwiches.
      • You're missing the point. If you're eating your chicken salad sandwich, don't answer the phone. Let caller ID pick it up, finish your sandwich, and then if you're remotely concerned that you might have missed a call that you cared about, you can check caller ID. If it's some asshat calling just because he has your number on hist caller ID, and it's not a number that you recognize, forget about it and move on with your life. One of the 5 other people in the house will see that number eventually and if the ca
      • I got one of those once. It was a wrong number. The woman on the other end started out, rather rudely, "What were you calling me for? I have your number in my Caller ID." I say "umm... I don't think anyone here tried to call you." She was quite adamant about us calling her, so I asked her what phone number she'd intended to dial. Turned out she misdialed! :)
      • That's why I've found the best combination is caller ID and answering machine. I agree completely w/the original poster. I really don't like phones much at all. I completely agree that it's a convenience item for me, not for other people to be able to rach me whenever.

        The caller ID/answering machine seems to work quite well for me. The caller ID gives me a good idea most of the time who's calling, and then the answering machine gives me an extra level of protection. You know, there's some times when

        • I find it funny (Score:3, Insightful)

          by fullmetal55 ( 698310 )
          Lots of people think the phone is a convenience item for them, not to allow other people to reach you. well what about the phone number you're dialing? do they feel the same way as you? then aren't you just as bad as that big bad person calling you? In my previous job I hated people like that, who would never pick up the phone until I called 10 times, instead choosing to verbally abuse me after they finally pick up,without knowing why i was calling, or who I was. Dispite the fact that I was calling back

          • Re:I find it funny (Score:4, Funny)

            by Lawbeefaroni ( 246892 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @04:43PM (#6947872) Homepage
            My solution is to have two cell phones. I use one to call the other. That way I'm not the "big bad person calling." I know when I call myself i don't mind being called at that particular moment. Likewise, when my phone rings, it's conveniently always at a time I'm ready to answer. Then when I'm walking down the street or on the train or in an elevator I can conspicuiously talk about what important shit I'm working on or how cool I am.

            The added bonus is I have a cell phone in each hand over each ear. I'm a total badass and this lets people know it! BTW, I tried this with those handsfree one-ear headsets. Unfortunately people just thought I was listening to an iPod and talking to myself. "I'm a badass, I'm not crazy," I would have to tell them. It got to be a pain.

      • If you dont want your chicken salad sandwich interrupted, all you have to do is use a Isochickensalad, a device that isolates the user from all sensory input other than chicken salad sandwich.

        The helmet delivers pre-gnawed chicken salad sandwich directly to the mouth, to avoid the distraction of having to carry the sandwich to the mouth and chewing it.
    • Well said. My cellphone is a one-way street. It's for ME to call you, and not vice-versa. I usually leave it in my car. If you (and i mean the global 'you') have something to tell me, leave a message and if it's worth my time, I'll get back to you. I don't do the "hey what's up? Nuthin'" thing.

      Likewise, no phone conversation is worth getting into a pool and isolation helmet for. Blowjob, maybe. Phone call... no fucking way.
      • If you have enough time to read/post on slashdot, I am forced to assume that you might be able to sqeeze in a 'hello' when a friend calls. Seriously, you aren't that important.

        • Re:The phone is your leash (Score:2, Insightful)

          by pohl ( 872 )
          You would be assuming so erroneously. A general purpose computer allows you to interleave emails and web-forum-postings among a myriad other useful things that you can be doing with your machine at the same time. This prevents you from making assumptions about what else someone is doing with their time. (You can't assume that no one else uses their computer time wisely simply because you do not.)

          The phone, on the other hand, is a mutex lock on you...a very rude medium for low-importance/low-urgency comm
          • I don't think we have to worry. Someone who uses the phrase "mutext lock on you" in normal conversation probably doesn't get all that many "personal" calls.
          • The phone, on the other hand, is a mutex lock on you...a very rude medium for low-importance/low-urgency communications.

            Then there's the phone's bastard stepchild: the conference call. I am required to be on a conference call every day--even if there's nothing important that couldn't have been said in an email. Worse yet, if I'm out of the office or working on a high-priority outage, I might miss some project or other announcement on the call, to which there is never an email follow-up. (Sigh.)

      • Likewise, no phone conversation is worth getting into a pool and isolation helmet for. Blowjob, maybe. Phone call... no fucking way

        How about 1-900 numbers.
    • Unfortunately some people live by the phone

      The problem with most people is they feel they are not needed. They feel they have no value and no power over other people. So each time the phone ring, they hope it's someone who will say "I'd like to see you" or "I need your help" (as long as the person calling has value and power, of course). And they don't want that person to call someone else because they didn't answer the phone! Oh, no!
    • When I had a land-line at the house I didn't own an answering machine. Caller ID let me know who called and I could decide if a return call was warranted because once a message is left the onus is on you to call back.

      If everyone thought like you, no one would ever talk to each other.

      Why is leaving a message such a bad thing? At home, I have an answering machine (CID is too expensive, I pay Bell enough money as it is). If I'm there, and not busy, I answer. Otherwise, I let the machine get it. I can eve

  • Driving... (Score:5, Funny)

    by cjustus ( 601772 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:54AM (#6941896) Homepage
    You don't want to be driving while using this phone...

  • Damn it (Score:2, Funny)

    by jabbadabbadoo ( 599681 )
    "...that isolates the user from all other sensory input"

    Sounds like sex isn't going to be as much fun as before.

    • Re:Damn it (Score:2, Funny)

      by grub ( 11606 )

      Sounds like sex isn't going to be as much fun as before.

      Your hands are still free while floating in the pool. You are referring to phone-sex0r, right?

  • Sonds like great technology for car phones! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Trigun ( 685027 ) <evil&evilempire,ath,cx> on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:54AM (#6941899)
    Why should the driver be bothered by my horn, or the wrecked bus of burning nuns?

  • Phone Plus Sensory Deprivation Equals... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ryanvm ( 247662 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:55AM (#6941905)
    Phone Plus Sensory Deprivation Equals...

    MY JOB.

  • I'm sorry, who is this for? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Future Man 3000 ( 706329 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:56AM (#6941909) Homepage
    CEOs of companies that could afford this don't need it; they've already got other mechanisms to avoid distractions on the phone.

    Unless they're filling the office pool with water, this sounds like something that missed its (.com) era.

    • Around here, we keep the office pool filled with champagne.
    • Its for call centers, stupid.

      As an added benefit, you can power the predictive dialers using these phones combined with a form of fusion.

    • I've been tracking a noticable upward trend in dot-com style practises lately, from a dot-com job site advertising on television to google thinking they can give stuff away and somehow profit. I think the next big thing will be to move as many jobs as possible overseas, or cut them and then do the dot-com business methods again because they were fun and allowed for huge boosts in upper management pay scales while allowing those guys to pretend to be running a company. And yes, most of them were just playing

  • Sorry About That, Chief! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:56AM (#6941912)
    Looks a lot like the "Cone of Silence" from Get Smart. Bet it works just as well. :)
    • Bet it works just as well.

      Yeah, but only if you're talking on your shoephone.
  • ...ability to drive?

    And you thought people using mobile phones while driving NOW were dangerous.

    fun.

    • Re:No sensation and no... (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Not funny, and no I don't think we're dangerous. I absolutely need to use my phone while driving, and pulling over to the side of the road while using the phone every time I had a call would make me even more dangerous than using the phone while moving along. Besides, I'm only on the phone for less than 5 minutes. Personally I think you have to be a bit brain damaged to not be able to do more than talk when you're driving.

      • Re:No sensation and no... (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        For every person that can handle it there are ten that can't. Hell I've seen people that can't have a conversation with the person sitting next to them without losing focus on the road. No matter you think cell phones are very dangerous in most people hands while driving. I've seen people run stop signs, drive 30 miles per hour on the highway, swerve wildly, cut across three lanes to make a turn they missed. My sister was actually in an accident because of a cell phone.

        No one is saying to pull over but

      • Re:No sensation and no... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:13AM (#6942079)
        I don't think we're dangerous

        Oh sure, no one ever does. "I can drive faster than the speed limit because I'm a better driver and that means I'm not dangerous!" or "I can steer with my knees because I'm in control and I'm not dangerous!"

        I absolutely need to use my phone while driving

        Oh really? Tell us Mr. President, how do you find time to relax with your oh so busy schedule? It must be hell, poor you!

        Besides, I'm only on the phone for less than 5 minutes.

        Oh, five minutes, is that all? Lets see, five minutes at 50Mph...that 4 Miles you covered without paying proper attention to what you're doing. Thats O.K though, because you're not dangerous, right?

        • Re:No sensation and no... (Score:5, Interesting)

          by KurdtX ( 207196 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @12:50PM (#6944437)
          I don't think we're dangerous
          Oh sure, no one ever does
          The problem is that some people can drive while talking on the phone and some can't (some can't even drive, period). The ones who can drive while talking on a cell phone you never notice (as it should be). As I live in California, where everyone has a cell phone, and frequently use them in cars, I've actually spent time (when riding as a passenger) noting who are talking on their cell phones and who aren't. About half of the solo drivers are typically on their phones, and yet I only see one or two people per trip who get themselves in trouble because of the phone.

          Granted, anyone can talk on the phone while driving in a straight line at a constant speed (I've actually known guys who've fallen asleep on long straight roads and done fine), but it's the emergency situations that the people on phones can't deal with. And the problem is 1) they forget the basic rule of driving of looking as far ahead as you can see and 2) they won't stop their conversation to deal with the situation. Since talking on a cell phone should be equivalent to talking to a passenger, they need to realize that when talking to a passenger, you both stop talking when someone cuts you off.

          Personally, I've told people to hold on, put the phone down, done what I had to do, and then resumed the conversation (with explination). I also drive 10-15 mph slower (I like to drive 80-90 mph) when on the phone, as I realize that they are a distraction and my reaction speed will be slowed (I do the same when I have passengers in the car, too). I'd also like to mention that I don't use cell phones on local roads, as there are too many things that could happen that can't in the controlled environment of a freeway. A little bit of thought (often lacking) and cell phones aren't as much of a problem as you think they are.

          Given that you said you drive 50mph I take it you're not in California, and probably not anywhere with much traffic, or hour+ long commutes that really have turned the cell phone into a necessity (I don't even have a land line, 'cause I'm never home except to sleep). Maybe instead of assuming everyone is like you (I salute you if you recognize that you don't have the ability to talk on the phone and drive at the same time), realize how diverse people are in their abilities. Hey, someone was doing alright at running a country, but thought that fooling around with an intern in the White House would stay a secret.
      • I don't think it's really the "conversation" on the phone that distracts people while driving.

        I think it's people who try to dial a number while driving, and I don't mean quick dial. I mean people pounding in 6...1...0...3...3..4.'oops'..-...8..0..3...8.."is that right?" "Ooops" -...9...5..."connect"

        I mean sure you only have one hand to drive with, but it only limits your ability to make turns greater than 45 degrees. So unless you're trying to park a car, you're not at all limited.

        I don't make a habit o
    • Well I don't think that's much of a problem since you need to use this thing inside of a pool :)
      From the article: "And whenever you want to make a call, you will need to have your Isophone with you, plus a heated swimming pool."

  • Dumbest Thing I've seen. - Ever. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by FileNotFound ( 85933 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:57AM (#6941926) Homepage Journal
    The subject says it all...

    I'm sorry..but this is so retarded I don't know where to begin.

    Why? Ugh..god...

    I want what they're smoking...

    • Re:Dumbest Thing I've seen. - Ever. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by h00pla ( 532294 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:14AM (#6942097) Homepage
      Absolutely. I read an article a while back but I don't remember exactly where I saw it - I think it was in The Guardian - but it said we're now entering a period where inventors are producing stuff that has dubious value for society. It talks about how companies are now putting a great deal of effort into providing features for things - I think they mentioned cell phones - and they know that people don't use these features. The article points out that instead of making the phone better in other ways - they take surveys to find out why people aren't using the features. Here we have another example of this kind of misplaced creativity. The inventor actually says this:

      Whilst it's not necessarily very efficient, in many ways it's very pragmatic ...

      That's a pretty telling statement.

    • I want what they're smoking...
      Probably they tested the prototype on themselves and the line got cut
      Lemme explain, In "You must be joking Mr.Feynmann" Richard Feynmann (Nobel prize winning physicist and overall colorful charecter) talks about his experiences with a thing like this. Somebody had set up a salt water tank (same sp. gravity as human body), totally dark and noise proof and at exact temp. as human body. So a person inside it cannot feel gravity, noise, temperature, anything at all. Feynmann sp

  • No smell? (Score:4, Funny)

    by turg ( 19864 ) * <[turg] [at] [winston.org]> on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:57AM (#6941928) Journal

    From the story.

    "You can't hear anything else, you can't see anything else, you can't smell anything else, all you have coming in is the telephone call.

    That is, you can't smell anything else if the swimming pool isn't chlorinated.

    Hmmm. No, I guess that wouldn't actually help much either

  • Bad idea (Score:3, Funny)

    by Andrewkov ( 140579 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:58AM (#6941934)
    This sounds like a bad idea ... It's annoying enough talking listening to people on the phone when I can distract myself by doing other things. Imagine if I cound't read Slashdot while users where telling me their life stories? How tedious would that be?! ;-)

  • Made me smile (Score:3, Funny)

    by ewanb ( 18483 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:58AM (#6941938) Homepage
    The idea that people would actively get into
    a swimming pool and put on a helmet to answer
    a work phone call. The mental image... is
    quite worrying in some cases.

    Though I find the best thing about working from
    home is that people dont have my phone number
    here, so ... noone calls me. And I go to no
    meetings. Magical.
  • ...is for talking to some real hot babe (hot because of her voice, not her body), or playing recordings of really mellowing music. Most people I'd end up talking to on the phone would defeat the whole object of forgetting my surroundings.

    Now, some device like this to chill with a possibility of a soundtrack with erotic noises and some chick with breathing apparatus going at me ... I shudder to think where this is all coming from. Maybe it's because it's Friday afternoon.

  • Sense free, but not other-thoughts free (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Richardsonke1 ( 612224 ) * on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:58AM (#6941942)
    First of all, it would take a while for me to not be distracted using this "phone." How many of you are not in some way excited every time you get a new tech toy. I would be thinking more about the device, how it works, and the fact that I am in water, more than about the conversation. Your general conversations: "Dude! I'm floating in water while I talk! Isn't that cool?!"
    • The one thought rampaging through my brain would be "I'm utterly defenseless."

      This thing just asks for someone to sneak up and scare you or dump a bucket of ice water on your head, or else rob your wallet from your clothes, rob the rest of your house, then burn the house down while you're completely oblivious. An extra spy-movie-worthy idea would be slipping a few poisonous water snakes into the pool, or maybe a few piranhas. Piranhas OF DOOM.

  • I can see it now (Score:4, Funny)

    by Hittite Creosote ( 535397 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @08:59AM (#6941947)
    Just as you're in the middle of your early morning swim, when some prat walks in wearing a helmet and calls out

    HELLO? I'M IN THE POOL!

    On the plus side, it'll be easier to drown them...

  • It ignores novelties such as polyphonic ringtones and games and instead it is designed to help you concentrate on a phone call itself.

    I'm sick of seeing all sorts of pointless features added to phones. The manufacturers know no bounds. This device isn't particularly useful, being as you need a swimming pool, but if it were made smaller, this could be something really useful when making important phone calls (when not driving, of course). I wish all the cell phone manufacturers would focus on making u
  • Whilst it's not necessarily very efficient, in many ways it's very pragmatic, in that the user will be totally focused on who they're talking to.

    Um, excuse me, but that's the problem with existing phones - the person concentrates only on the conversation, to the exclusion of everything else, including driving. If anything, we need a phone that would allow a person to do something else other than just talking. (And yes, I know about wireless headsets and I think they're great...)

  • Sensory Deprivation... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Thomas M Hughes ( 463951 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:00AM (#6941967)
    The article doesn't really say how you would dial when you're immersed in complete sensory deprivation. I mean, your sense of sight, sound, and smell are supposedly completely removed by the device, and your body is supposed to be in body temperature water, getting rid of gravity and most of your touch. Wouldn't that make dialing a number difficult?

    I suppose maybe you could only receive calls on the thing. But then, wouldn't it be impossible for two people to use them? If the point is to focus everything onto the conversation itself, if only one person has the experience, I imagine the person in the deprivation would be pretty pissed that the other person wasn't pay as much attention as they were.

    Then again, this is a luxury item, and might only be available to executives for business calls. Perhaps they have their secretaries do all the dialing and then its just forwarded to the device, so they don't even have to worry about that aspect of it.

    Ultimately, I think its impractical, though I'm glad that some people are doing truly innovative work. I give it a B for effort.
  • In a way it's a luxury item that allows for a really in-depth conversation

    What more can be said?

  • ...wearing a darkened helmet in a swimming pool

    This sounds like enough to drive someone insane who has a condition like this. Heck, it would even make me a bit uncomfortable.

    That and, of course, communicating with another human using voice instead of a computer.

  • If you are making a business call, you will probably want to refer to your notes.
    This is not an easy task if you are wearing a darkened helmet in a swimming pool.

    This is a tool of the Dark Side! It will seduce our business leaders and make them slaves to dark forces that only MBAs will understand!
    Oh, wait...

    Soko
  • Ok, who's getting fired at the BBC for accidently releasing next year's April Fool's story early?

    -Ab

  • All the meanwhile (Score:3, Insightful)

    by antis0c ( 133550 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:05AM (#6942010)
    Your house is burning down, your kid cut his hand off, your husband is having a heart attack but your zoned out on your phone call to to vote for the next American Idol.
  • ...and tell me that this doesn't remind you vaguely of a popular movie series involving people that plug in and out of a virtual reality universe....
  • It's called the automobile.....

  • YAY! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by phloydphreak ( 691922 )
    hm, I dont have the attention span or caring to devote time to a phone call, locking my door and spending quality time with loved ones. I guess I will buy a sensory deprivation phone so that my ADD (read American upbringing) wont interfere with the quality time I am not willing to put effort into.

    After all, a phone is not enough to converse, but with a helmet, all things things are possible. I mean... its a helmet.

  • Sounds great - except for the phone.

    When I tried a sensory deprivation tank (no phone, just epsom salts thanks), it was a big egg-shaped tank without any lights. Afterwards my date and I got totally engrossed in cutlery at the restaurant. We were swimming in over-perception. The effect waned over a few days.

    Guess with this one you could get your computer to phone you and play "Echoes" by Pink Floyd, or just shut the phone off.

    Anyone know any good sensory deprivation music? Polly would need a hi-fi phone

  • Don't walk on the sidewalks! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bendebecker ( 633126 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:15AM (#6942098) Journal
    I bet some fool will get it for his car...
    "Yeah, officer, I was driving down the highway at 65mph when my phone rang. I have no idea how I ended up in this field! And why is the front of my car all covered in blood?"

  • Abusable (Score:3, Funny)

    by Doesn't_Comment_Code ( 692510 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:17AM (#6942113)

    Imagine running and jumping into the pool, strapping on your Lunar Lander floating headset, and getting all situated, just to find a telemarketer on the other end of the line!

    I don't know what's worse, that you have to get out and dry off, or that the telemarketer has your TOTAL ATTENTION.

  • I'm struggling on a logical application on this one. The only thing I can think of is the super duper isophonesex lines. You can really focus in on the caller breathing heavy as you masturbate in a luke warm pool. It's an experence, and probally legal in most civilized countries.

  • To sum up the article in one sentance. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Badgerman ( 19207 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:19AM (#6942129)
    People with too much time on their hands invent incredibly impractical device for easily distracted people who probably will never use it anyway.

  • Computer says that it is September 12, but reading this article, I am sure that it is April 1.
  • Like it wasn't bad enough working for one already.... "Alright, everyone in the pool!"
  • I could really use one of these while I'm driving.

    I find I'm often distracted by what other cars are doing, and trying to hold a conversation while monitoring my speed and dealing with traffic lights, stop signs, and cray drivers is a real pain.

  • by America's top intelligence agencies. See here [cinerhama.com].
  • Finally, I never seem to be able to concentrate with all this gravity around!
  • It's a bit silly as a phone, but without dialing anybody it might make a pretty good sensory deprivation tank [chifountain.com]. I enjoy "tanking" on occassion in a John-Lilly-style tank, but the biggest problem I've found is with the Epsom salts (that stuff is nasty if it gets in your eyes). Has anybody here tried a tank that works like the one in the story? It doesn't look as comfortable as lying down, but it does do without the salts.

    Jason
  • so now i have to run upstairs, strip down to a swimsuit, jump in the pool and get the headgear on all in the 4 rings before it goes to voicemail?
  • If this is anything like the "Cone of Silence" from the old TV series "Get Smart", I'm sure lots of people will buy it for their bosses :) (The cone of silence was a pair of bubbles that came down over two people's heads so they could block outside sound while talking. It worked so well, the two people couldn't talk to each other, either)

    Now all I need is a shoe phone from Nokia - the N-Shoe!
  • ...is a phone that keeps other people from hearing your conversations. It's really annoying when you're sitting next to someone on the commuter rail, and they insist on spending the entire trip gabbing to no particular end at about 10dB higher than they need to.

    An acceptable alternative would be to designate one car as a "cellphone car," and let the rest of us read in peace.
  • Could this be as close to a "brain-cluster" as possible?

    You set 10 people together to discuss an idea or problem in a conference call mode, let them figure out a protocol.. Or, each person is patched into three other "mind-nodes", auditory only, and must precede all communications with a command. The voice packets are then sen to the appropriate node

    "Bill, what if... ,Bill" "Jane, how about.., Jane".. when I say Jane, she gets my next statement, but Bill can't hear it.

    Course, what happens when peopl
  • in a tech support Matrix.

    I hearby sentence the inventors to "death by their own product." We're going to put them in one of these things for 12 hours a day. . . then unlist their phone number.

    Won't do much for them but it'll nicely isolate us from whatever further sensory input they might unleash upon us.

    KFG

  • What a waste (Score:3, Funny)

    by dkone ( 457398 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @09:49AM (#6942398)
    Yeah I am sure these will catch on. Not only that it should be a big boost to the pool industry. Don't worry about the fact that in many areas you will only be able to use your phone during the summer months. Hmmm, I can just see it now... "well, I am not going to call my mother/sister/brother during the winter, because I know she/she/he will not be paying attention to me.

    Just some random thoughts:

    Everytime I get in the pool I always have to pee, which would be a distraction in itself.

    Other people would probably be swiming in the pool, there is nothing more irritating to me then someone splashing me while I am in the pool.

    Do you have to sit in the pool all day waiting for a call, or do you answer a call and ask the person to hold while you put your bathing suit on.

    What if there is an electrical storm while you are on the phone? You would not know and could die.

    Do you think the ring tone should be the theme to Jaws?
  • You just know that if Linux was involved in any way, shape or form with this device, hordes of slashdotters would be proclaiming it the greatest invention ever!
  • I noticed what might be construed as a minor implediment to adoption and implementation in that YoU HaVE To bE StAnDInG StILL In A %$#% SwIMMING PoOL WiTH FoUR BLaSTED UgLY PLaSTIC PoDS ARoUND YoUR NoGGIN To MaKE A SImPLE STInKING PHoNE CaLL!

    Ahem.
  • I don't know about you, but they seem to expect a low level of cognitive ability if you can be distracted by gravity. In fact, I would argue that the distraction of having to breath is greater than that of gravity. Having said that, the device might be also designed to releive you of the necessity for breating also, resulting in a very profound sense of peace.
  • From the article: The device is a Media Lab Europe project which goes against the grain of mobile development.

    Against the grain? I'll say! Cuz we all know how portable a POOL is.

    I also bet that they got some sort of grant money for this as well.

    Do they expect to be taken seriously with this work? I fully expect the only user of this thing to be Austin Powers, with a bunch of sharks with fricken lasers on their heads swimming around him.

    Hell, this is even too stupid for Get Smart... and he had the "C
  • 1. Obatin plastic bag full of ice.

    2. Approach phone user silently w/ hand in bag.

    3. Remove hand from bag and place on selected part of anatomy.

  • Would there be a function where you could get interrupted, I don't mean like call waiting, bujt say that you were sitting in your cube and your buddies wanted to go out to lunch but you were on the phone with some idiot. I mean, it sounds like ka nice idea, but I don't really find that things around are distracting from phbone conversations unless the conversation is terribly boring, or it's with someone I dislike.

    Which would mean that if these devices were used to aid my attentnion in such a situation i
  • Phone Plus Sensory Deprivation Equals...

    - Bad Spelling -

  • prior art (Score:3, Insightful)

    by poot_rootbeer ( 188613 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @11:50AM (#6943759)
    a new phone technology that isolates the user from all other sensory input

    You mean like... a PHONE BOOTH?

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