3 ms·

You want to pay the rent? Don't make a product, make a service, mainly, "WHERE IS THAT ANNOYING SOUND COMING FROM? SERVICE". People will pay you to locate sour

You want to pay the rent? Don't make a product, make a service, mainly, "WHERE IS THAT ANNOYING SOUND COMING FROM? SERVICE". People will pay you to locate sources of irritating sounds.

loxias 5y ago
I have "inverse aptitude" at knowing what should be a product. :) Never trust me to know what would sell or not. In fact, "bet against whatever I think". ;) In my ideal (and in the best jobs I've had in the past), someone finds me (or I find someone) who I can share a list of "cool things I've figured out how to do, but don't know the usefulness of", and that person then tells me what to build. For your "where is that annoying sound coming from?" service, what sort of scale do you imagine, and what form factor? A handheld consumer device with a range of ~10m which points in the direction of the loudest thing? How much would you pay for such a device? (would love your thoughts in email)
rapjr9 5y ago
I use handheld sound amplitude meters and spectrogram software on smartphones to track down sounds I want to eliminate. This is often for musical purposes, but also for annoying sounds. An amplitude meter can be useful for finding the source of a sound, but lower frequency sounds are not as directional, and standing waves in rooms can make a sound source appear to come from somewhere other than the source (though perhaps moving a sound camera around physically could help eliminate this ambiguity?) The spectrogram can provide evidence of a specific periodicity or frequency range that can help identify a source. However these tools while useful are not sufficient all the time and are certainly not quick to use. I've often thought it would be really useful to have something like a gunshot detector for ordinary sounds, to be able to locate sounds both indoors and outdoors. It would help in answering questions like "is that sound a bear/dog raiding my trash?", "is the fan failing in my air purifier?", "is my air conditioner rattling something nearby?", "is my fridge transmitting a low level hum throughout the house?", "is that engine noise a truck pulling up to my house or a truck climbing a hill on the nearby highway?", all problems I have actually faced. Not sure if a sonic camera can deal well with low frequency sounds, but it would certainly make it easier to deal with higher frequency sources of noises. I'd buy one on impulse for $100, with some consideration of features at $300.
- genewitch 5y ago
  Use this to find a cricket indoors. I defy you.

You want to pay the rent? Don't make a product, make a service, mainly, "WHERE IS THAT ANNOYING SOUND COMING FROM? SERVICE". People will pay you to locate sources of irritating sounds.

loxias 5y ago

I have "inverse aptitude" at knowing what should be a product. :) Never trust me to know what would sell or not. In fact, "bet against whatever I think". ;) In my ideal (and in the best jobs I've had in the past), someone finds me (or I find someone) who I can share a list of "cool things I've figured out how to do, but don't know the usefulness of", and that person then tells me what to build. For your "where is that annoying sound coming from?" service, what sort of scale do you imagine, and what form factor? A handheld consumer device with a range of ~10m which points in the direction of the loudest thing? How much would you pay for such a device? (would love your thoughts in email)

rapjr9 5y ago

I use handheld sound amplitude meters and spectrogram software on smartphones to track down sounds I want to eliminate. This is often for musical purposes, but also for annoying sounds. An amplitude meter can be useful for finding the source of a sound, but lower frequency sounds are not as directional, and standing waves in rooms can make a sound source appear to come from somewhere other than the source (though perhaps moving a sound camera around physically could help eliminate this ambiguity?) The spectrogram can provide evidence of a specific periodicity or frequency range that can help identify a source. However these tools while useful are not sufficient all the time and are certainly not quick to use. I've often thought it would be really useful to have something like a gunshot detector for ordinary sounds, to be able to locate sounds both indoors and outdoors. It would help in answering questions like "is that sound a bear/dog raiding my trash?", "is the fan failing in my air purifier?", "is my air conditioner rattling something nearby?", "is my fridge transmitting a low level hum throughout the house?", "is that engine noise a truck pulling up to my house or a truck climbing a hill on the nearby highway?", all problems I have actually faced. Not sure if a sonic camera can deal well with low frequency sounds, but it would certainly make it easier to deal with higher frequency sources of noises. I'd buy one on impulse for $100, with some consideration of features at $300.

genewitch 5y ago
Use this to find a cricket indoors. I defy you.