Occupy Wall Street protestors are not allowed to “amplify sound” outdoors while protesting in New York City (NYC), but a new iPhone app could be used to get around the ‘megaphone’ ban that NYC has in place.
Since physical microphones are not allowed, people typically chant in unison to create the same effect. The Inhuman Microphone app for the iPhone has the potential to bring the art of protesting into the 21st century.
The Nation explains how an Occupy Wall Street chant typically works:
“Mic check?” someone implores.
“MIC CHECK!” the crowd shouts back, more or less in unison.
…
with every few words / WITH EVERY FEW WORDS!
repeated and amplified out loud / REPEATED AND AMPLIFIED OUT LOUD!
by what has been dubbed / BY WHAT HAS BEEN DUBBED!
the human microphone / THE HUMAN MICROPHONE!!! (jazz hands here).
While many protestors have taken to social networks like Facebook and Twitter to help organize protests, the core of these protests are still very non-digital.
An app by the name of Inhuman Microphone uses cellular networking to link a group of iPhones together and send the same phrases through each device’s speaker simultaneously. The end result: a very loud iPhone army of protestors.
Created by David Vella, Henrik Pettersson, Tom Leitch, and Tom Hannen, the app was demonstrated at the London Music Hack Day:
A group of Occupy Wall Street protestors could use the Inhuman Microphone app to create the same effect as a physical microphone without technically breaking New York City’s law on amplifying a certain sound in public during a protest. The app takes one user’s voice and sends that message into the cloud and onto a group of linked iPhones to be repeated at the same time. If each iPhone’s speaker is cranked all the way up, you’ve got some pretty decent decibels of volume on your hands.
You can ‘join’ the Inhuman Microphone app on its website, but you’ll only be added as a replayer. You can follow the project on Twitter for more developments.
We’re calling it in Apple’s next ad: “Need to protest? There’s an app for that.”
(via evolver.fm)
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
6 responses to “iPhone App Could Be Used To Fight Against Megaphone Ban In Occupy Wall Street Protests”
so, how does that work if physical mics are not allowed and the iPhone apparently has a built-in microphone? :D
Yes, nothing says anti-corporate greed like virtual shouting on an Apple Corp. iPhone 4s. So get yours today by re-upping today on AT&T.
Either they’re choosing to ignore that physical mic aspect or it’s the amplifying the sound thing that is actually what isn’t allowed.
@AriRomano:disqus …..I ??n`t b?l?iv?…?y fri?nd`s sist?r m???s 78/hr ?n th? int?rn?t. Sh? h?s b??n un?m?l???d f?r 11 m?nths but l?st m?nth h?r inc?m? w?s 7985$ ?ust w?r?ing ?n th? ?? f?r ? f?w h?urs. Read on this w?bsit?…….http://alturl.com/acncv
…..I ??n`t b?l?iv?…?y fri?nd`s sist?r m???s 78/hr ?n th? int?rn?t.  Sh? h?s b??n un?m?l???d f?r 11 m?nths but l?st m?nth h?r inc?m? w?s  7985$ ?ust w?r?ing ?n th? ?? f?r ? f?w h?urs.  Read on this w?bsit?…….   C a s h M a n y . c ? m Â
OWS is still going on?  Last I heard America could stomach Tea Partiers more than OWS’ers. They captured a lot of attention, but in the end people just saw that they wanted everything w/o working for it and they were a drain on resources.Â
I suggest they grow up and go out and get a job and realize the world isn’t fair and that is the way it is.