Trying to blank it out (Image: Hugh Kretschmer/Getty)
Filtering the deluge of data that comes into our lives via the internet is something most of us have become used to. We can block adverts, automatically prioritise email, press mute on our Facebook connections, and much more, controlling what reaches us. Now we’re on the cusp of getting filters for our offline existence too.
The possibility that augmented-reality glasses and contact lenses might block unwelcome sights has captured imaginations for several years, but the first technology that allows us to blot out what we don’t want or like may alter what we hear rather than what we see.
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A group called Doppler Labs is working on the system, comprising digital earplugs with a smartphone app that allows the enhancement or suppression of chosen sounds. This is more than simple noise cancellation to block out the rumble of aircraft engines: the $249 device is not for playing music. Instead, it has “audio curation tools” for suppressing the variable noise from traffic, background chatter in the workplace, and even crying babies. The proposal clearly has appeal, with the Kickstarter campaign to fund production passing its $250,000 target in days.
The idea of being able to turn off sounds you don’t want to hear is simultaneously compelling and disturbing. Crowded malls and busy workplaces could be made more tolerable – but potentially at the cost of being able to gauge the true state of your surroundings.
have also noted an implicit class element in paying for the ability to block out other people’s lives. This ambivalence will only grow as the technology improves. Political protests, styles of music, and even specific voices or words could be blocked or altered as digital processing becomes more powerful.
The desire to filter out what we find disturbing or unwelcome isn’t new. In the online environment, it is possible like never before to repel opinions, ideas, or even facts that don’t match our world views. The “real world” has been the stubborn holdout, confronting us with things that we may find insulting, offensive or blasphemous. That’s about to change.
Audio curation, alongside augmented reality and facial recognition, will soon make it possible – even easy – to remove unwelcome day-to-day experiences. For some people or communities, there may be welcome benefits or relief. For those of us who worry about the health of civil society, there are also reasons to be troubled.
