Talking Windows - Bone Conduction

A concept that would pipe messages directly into the heads of people who try to rest or sleep against train windows.

Sky Deutschland campaign will pipe ads straight into train passengers' skulls: Sky Deutschland, the German wing of TV provider Sky, is testing a marketing concept that may be pure evil genius, or possibly just pure evil. The BBC and others report that Sky Deutschland and advertising company BBDO have tested a concept that would pipe messages directly into the heads of people who try to rest or sleep against train windows. The idea, which was first unveiled at the advertising-focused Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in late June, is known as the Talking Window. It uses bone conduction like that found in headphones, hearing aids, and Google Glass to send vibrations through a window.

When a commuter leans against the window, he or she will hear a message that nobody else can, asking if they're bored and want to download Sky's mobile app. BBDO has said that if Sky Deutschland gives final approval, "we will start with the new medium as quickly as possible," but even it seems to implicitly recognize that this is bound to irk some people. A promotional video notes that the subjects will be "tired commuters" who want to rest, and people in the ad display emotions ranging from curiosity to open annoyance.

A spokesperson also said, however, that tests in Munich and Aachen had been received well, and that there were applications besides pure advertising. It could also, he said, give people public transit updates, weather, or music, though Sky says it hasn't yet decided whether to run the ad campaign. Fortunately for this reporter and commuter, if the technology ends up in common use, BBDO says it's not planning on expanding outside Germany any time soon.

Audiva Develops Talking Window For Ad Purposes: I am quite sure that many of us are sick and tired of ads by now. Turn on the TV, and it seems that a 1 hour show is interspersed with more ads than the actual TV series itself. Your Internet experience, too, is filled with ads that pop-up blockers which used to be an option are now a necessity. Heck, just when you thought that you could get some peace and quiet all by yourself at the solitary seat in a bus by the window, along comes Audiva with their idea of a Talking Window. The Talking Window happens to be a new advertising experiment from Germany’s BBDO for pay TV company Sky Deutschland, where they will send promotional messages to commuters who happen to rest their heads on the glass of a train car. These advertisements will not disturb the rest of the other passengers’ peace, but rather, only you if you happen to rest your heads against the glass. This is made possible thanks to bone conduction technology which will stream auditory messages to you, with the help of a small transmitter box that does the streaming of high frequency vibrations onto the glass. If I were the commuter, it is time to carry a portable neck pillow so that I no longer need to lean against the window any more.

Passengers leaning their head against the window will "hear" adverts "coming from inside the user's head", urging them to download the Sky Go app.

Talking train window adverts tested by Sky Deutschland: A German firm is proposing to transmit adverts via train windows so that the sound appears to "come from inside the user's head" when passengers lean against them. The idea would use bone conduction technology, a technique that transmits sound to the inner ear by passing vibrations through the skull. The concept has been developed by ad agency BBDO Germany on behalf of broadcaster Sky Deutschland. It is already proving controversial. Comments posted under a video showing off the concept include "This is a violation to a person's right to rest" and "I think I'd take a sledgehammer to the window."

The Talking Window campaign idea was shown off at the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes last month. The video shows passengers on a German train being surprised to hear ads urging them to download the Sky Go app on to their smartphones to watch streamed video. The audio is created by a special Sky-branded transmitter made by Audiva attached to the windows. "Tired commuters often rest their heads against windows," says the ad. "Suddenly a voice inside their head is talking to them. No-one else can hear this message." Details posted online note that bone conduction technology has previously been used in hearing aids, headphones for swimmers and runners, and devices used by magicians to make someone think they have had a message planted in their head. Google also plans to use the tech in its forthcoming Glass headset.

BBDO Germany said it had had a positive response to tests using prototype transmitters placed in public transport in Munich and Aachen. "If our customer Sky Deutschland agrees, we will start with the new medium as quickly as possible," spokesman Ulf Brychcy told the BBC. "At present, this is limited to the German market. If we look into the future: everything is possible. "Some people don´t like advertising in general. But this is really a new technology. [It might] not only be used for advertising, but also for music, entertainment, mass transport information, weather reports and so on." A spokeswoman for Sky Deutschland said it had yet to make a decision on whether to run the campaign. Although the firm shares the same logo as the UK's BSkyB's satellite TV service, the two are separate companies, albeit both part-owned by News Corp. BSkyB said it had not been aware of the campaign before the BBC brought it to its attention, and was not planning to launch anything similar.

Similar glass here.