Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Veni, vedi, fish velocipede

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                   

Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.

Window to window string phone

Windows do double duty
  (+5)
(+5)
  [vote for,
against]

With a string can phone, the flat bottom of the can vibrates with the string, producing a sound which can be heard.

Modern buildings have windows which cannot be opened. So if you see something going on in an adjacent building, you have to mouth words or hold up a written sign. Also, the building of interest may be a block or two away.

A flat window is just as rigid if not more so, and bigger. I propose that windows of adjacent buildings be connected with strings. Persons in one building can then communicate with persons in another by shouting at their closed windows. A small hole can be drilled in the windows to accomodate the string.

This system might also produce sounds related wind, or birds landing on the string, or helicopters colliding with it.

This also might

bungston, Aug 01 2019

[link]






       I think you would be thwarted, at least somewhat, by double glazing.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 01 2019
  

       If, as the idea states // A small hole can be drilled in the windows to accommodate the string. // then the string could be attached to the inner pane of double or triple glazing. The hole through the outer pane(s) could be slightly larger to avoid rubbing the string. When not in use, the string could be tied off to something else in the room (perhaps a small bell for getting your neighbor's attention or alerting you that a bird has landed on the string), so sound isn't transmitted unless people in both rooms secure the string to the window pane using the supplied tensioning clip.
scad mientist, Aug 01 2019
  

       Airtight grommets will solve the double glazing issue and allow the string to pass through and transmit the messages.
xenzag, Aug 01 2019
  

       I am beginning to wonder if [bungston] was bludgeoned to death whilst in the middle of writing this idea, and then fell in such a way as to click the "OK" button. We may therefore never know what this also might
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 01 2019
  

       It's unlikely, but perhaps there's some effect of reading this idea that causes
normzone, Aug 02 2019
  

       There could be a spring loaded sucker gun mounted on the outside of the building beside each window. That way you could use the controls inside to aim and shoot the gun, allowing a new string line to be run from your window to any other within range. There is also a recovery winch to retrieve the string after you have
pocmloc, Aug 02 2019
  

       That would work for a modest number of people, but in a densely-populated area (for instance, between a group of three tall buildings), I think you'd
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 02 2019
  

       No, becaus
pocmloc, Aug 02 2019
  

       //This also might....No, becaus   

       I felt a great disturbance in the Halbakery, as if millions of wooden rulers were suddenly twanged on desks..   

       Ergo, Sturton has pinched the keys to the Cube, again.
not_morrison_rm, Aug 03 2019
  

       <pats pockets/>   

       No, they're here. Besides, he can never work out what the pedals do.   

       // Airtight grommets will solve the double glazing issue //   

       No, they won't - not if you have Argon-filled units.   

       It will be necessary to provide a small "tunnel" through the gap, in the same way that apertures are pre-installed for extractor fans and catflaps. However, like catflaps, this will only need to be a few millimetres in diameter(Yes, a cat can be passed through a 10mm aperture, if sufficient pressure is applied), so that the string doesn't touch the glazing in any way,   

       And you lot need to stop messing about - there's nothing in this idea that can possibly cause the abrupt and pointless truncation of annotations. Stop being childish. It's not big, and it's not
8th of 7, Aug 03 2019
  

       //he can never work out what the pedals do   

       That's because they are on ceiling...I tole 'im about them Ferengi mechanics, but did he liste
not_morrison_rm, Aug 03 2019
  

       //what the pedals do// Oh the cube is just a tricycle in a big cardboard box? That explains a
pocmloc, Aug 03 2019
  

       Poe's raven taps at a sealed window, and
pertinax, Aug 05 2019
  

       //I think you would be thwarted, at least somewhat, by double glazing//   

       The clever solution is to move the gap to the other side of one of the panes. That way, the vibrations will transmit easily. Since the overall glass/gap amounts are the same, there's no downside, apart from the lack of thermal/sound isolation. Those can be solved by moving the whole window to a more agreeable location.
bs0u0155, Aug 06 2019
  

       If that location were immediately adjacent to the window behind which the person you wish to converse with is positioned, the saving in string would be astounding.
8th of 7, Aug 06 2019
  

       I think the main issue with this is having enough windows in your office or apartment to be able to connect to one window of every other office or apartment in line of sight. Of course, the main issue with solving that is that there would be a lot of strings going every which way and quite densely between buildings, and some of them might rub on each other, producing crosstalk.   

       I think it would be more practical (surprisingly) to equip every office and apartment with a standardized laser audio communicator device. You affix the receiver, which looks like a target, to your window, and position the turret nearby. Now, when you see something in another office or apartment that you want to say something about, you just aim your turret at their target (guided by the laser dot) and talk into the microphone. They can do the same if they want to reply. Much simpler than figuring out which window of yours is connected by string to a window of the place you want to talk to, and shouting loudly enough at it for your voice to be audible on the other end, but quietly enough that it won't also go to the places that your adjacent windows connect to (though the tensioning clips solve that part of the problem).   

       Though, on the other hand, it could be a beneficial-in- some-ways thing to have every office and apartment that's in eyeshot be (constantly) in earshot too. Might increase the sense of community or something.
notexactly, Aug 10 2019
  

       Why not provide every office with a box containing a pair of binoculars, an Aldis lamp, and a set of semaphore flags ?   

       On sunny* days, a heliograph could be used.   

       *Not applicable in the UK.
8th of 7, Aug 10 2019
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle