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It's about time! Environmental "green" audio system
Japan Gadget Turns Plants Into Speakers Mon Sep 13, 1:44 PM TOKYO - The therapeutic power of flowers takes on new meaning with a Japanese gadget that turns plants into audio speakers, making the petals and leaves tremble with good vibrations. Called Ka-on, which means "flower sound" in Japanese, the machine consists of a donut-shaped magnet and coil at the base of a vase that hooks up to a CD player, stereo or TV. Place the flowers into the vase, turn on Ka-on and the magnet and coil relay the sound vibrations up the stems through the plant's water tubes. Near your ear and hear the music emanate from the petals. Touch a leaf, and feel it shake as though in a quiet dance. Later this month, you'll be able to carry on a telephone conversation with a flower with a planned speaker phone model. Unlike regular speakers, which send sound in one direction, Ka-on shoots it in all directions, filling an entire room with music in a more natural ambiance. Masumi Gotoh, president of Let's Corp., a Nagoya-based telecommuncations-equipment company that developed and manufactures Ka-on, calls it ideal for flower table-arrangements at weddings, reception desks at hospitals and decoration at restaurants. Ka-on vases and amplifiers come in various sizes, ranging in price from $46 to $460. There's a version that works with potted plants, and a wireless connection will soon be available for piping music to the Ka-on. Not only does Ka-on deliver flowery music, it keeps bugs off plants and helps cut flowers last longer, Gotoh claims. "The plant is happy listening to music," says Gotoh, showing off a rubber plant hooked up to Ka-on in his Tokyo office. "Gerberas and sunflowers work especially well as speakers." Ka-on is also being used for concerts. Several Ka-on were planted near a bamboo grove to play music at a recent event in Japan. About 3,000 of $46 Ka-on version, on sale via the Internet since July, have been sold and some 10,000 orders have been received so far. --- On the Net: Let's Corp.: http://www.lets-co.co.jp/english/index.htm |
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Radioman390 wrote:
Near your ear and hear the music emanate from the petals. Touch a leaf, and feel it shake as though in a quiet dance. That means the sound is so low, you have to come really close to hear it. Later this month, you'll be able to carry on a telephone conversation with a flower with a planned speaker phone model. Unlike regular speakers, which send sound in one direction, Ka-on shoots it in all directions, filling an entire room with music in a more natural ambiance. Hey, this group is called high-end. Did you hear those shakers, I bet you get much better sound when you glue them to the window-glass (but still not acceptable). Here you can see again how many of us will misinterpret a commercial advertisement, similar to the quack-style. Someone even copies the whole thing, thinking it is something new. Those shakers have been around for ages, the new thing is, one Japonnese puts a vase on top and voila, with a good web-page you can sell thousands overpriced. You can get good shakers for 15 to 20 bucks here in the west. -- ciao Ban Bordighera, Italy |
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