Intrasonics – “Soundings” On The Digital Applications Ecosystem

Intrasonics LOGO - Image Credit: Chord Capitol

Intrasonics – “Soundings” On The Digital Applications Ecosystem

Digital enablers to used access, identify, find, initiate, and respond to software programs designed to automate our lives has just found a new partner.

Symbology, as in optical character recognition, barcodes, 2D matrix, and 3D color dimension codes - RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, and RFID with memory - Biometrics, as in fingerprint, retina, vein-pattern, and face - Card Technologies that include magnetic stripe, embedded microchip, and RFID has a new technology player … Sound.

Circle Of Interactivity, patented SLS bridges the gap. Image Credit: Chord Capitol

Intrasonics is a company dedicated to bringing sound as the key communications implementer for a host of applications. As the Intrasonics website instructs, “The company is applying its patented ‘Sound Link and Sync’ (SLS) system to a range of interactive applications in broadcast and recorded media, enabling interactivity with mobile handsets, toys and mascots.”

The science of using sound in this manner is very new and does not have a formal name but we, at Symblogogy, will use “Acoustiology” … automatic identification applications set to sound.

Phone captures embedded sound files and uses them to get coupons, be directed to a website for information and commerce, or interactively respond to events broadcast on TV or radio. Image Credit: Chord Capitol

Acoustiology – AutoID Applications Set To Sound

This information excerpted from The Pondering Primate -

TV And Radio Broadcasts To Embed Hyperlinks In Sound
The Pondering Primate - Friday, December 21, 2007

Intrasonics offers another way to link the physical world to the Net with a mobile phone. By embedding data the sound of a TV broadcast or on the radio, a mobile phone is able to decipher/scan and connect a mobile phone to the Internet.

TV ads and shows can now be interactive with the mobile phone.
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Intrasonics is added to the list of companies that enable a mobile phone to connect to the Internet via real world objects.

Intrasonics Ltd is Sagentia Group’s interactive media services venture which provides a completely new way of directly connecting broadcast media to mobile networks using data embedded in sound.

The technology can be used across a number of applications including interactive gaming and advertising.

Intrasonics works by communicating directly between a broadcaster and mobile handsets via data transmitted in the sound of ordinary broadcasts.

The data is embedded in the audio and is unobtrusive to the listener. The sound and data is picked up by the microphone in the mobile and can be decoded to enable a compelling range of new interactive experiences for the consumer.

Luc Jonker, CEO of Mainframe Participaties B.V. comments " Our vision is to bring interactivity into every household around the world by changing the way in which consumers currently interact with their TVs or radios"
Reference Here>>

Additional application information excerpted Intrasonics and from the assets found at Chord Capitol and its subsidiary, Sagentia Group –

Intrasonics Ltd is a new company that creates, develops and licenses unique solutions for mobile-media interactivity. The company is applying its patented ‘Sound Link and Sync’ (SLS) system to a range of interactive applications.

SLS allows data to be hidden within almost any audio material. The data is spread across the audio band and then masked using psycho-acoustics, making it unobtrusive to the casual listener.

Intrasonics SLS-encoded audio may then be stored on CD, tape or DVD - or transmitted via broadcast TV, radio, or a public address system - and is unaffected by typical audio compression systems.
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The technology has application where small amounts of data need to be sent over an existing broadcast or recording system. Typically, it can be used to provide links relevant to the audio material – e.g. giving access to a website related to a TV advert, or facilitating 'one touch' interaction with a TV show.

Intrasonics SLS can also be used to synchronise audio subtitles to a film, to display messages on mobile handsets even if no radio connection is possible, and enable new ranges of interactive toys and themed mascots, whose actions are co-ordinated with broadcast or recorded media.
Reference Here>>

Capturing Coupon from sound files embedded in broadcast commercial. Image Credit: Chord Capitol

Our Product - how does it work and what does the market say ?

Intrasonics Ltd owns a significant portfolio of six patent families covering its acoustic data communications system - called 'Sound Link and Sync' (SLS). SLS allows small amounts of data to be hidden unobtrusively within an audio stream. The audio, carrying the data, may then be broadcast over any distribution system (radio, TV, in-store PA) where it is transmitted to air by any loudspeaker.

Software downloaded directly from a cell tower. Image Credit: Chord Capitol

A simple downloadable application on a mobile handset then interprets the sound, picked up by the mobile's microphone, and decodes the data. This results in the user receiving an interactive link or message on his mobile which he can click to see the advert or play along with the game show on the TV at that precise moment.

Dynamic TV broadcast "Game Show" play. Image Credit: Chord Capitol
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When the audio is played through ordinary loudspeakers, the Intrasonics data is also carried - and can be decoded using a microphone connected to a low-cost DSP [Digital Signal Processor - A special-purpose CPU used for digital signal processing applications] or by a software-only addition to a mobile phone.
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No special hardware is needed in the handset whatsoever and no change is needed to either the broadcast network or the TV itself – all existing TVs and radio receivers worldwide are already fully Intrasonics-compatible which is a critical consideration for ease of distribution.
Reference Here>>

This ACOUSTIOLOGY "sounds" like another great idea on which our lives are made eaiser through technology and automation.