Phones That Decide When to Ring

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/008660.php' target='_blank'>http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/008660.php</a><br /><br /></div>"We don't really see the need for either, but researchers at both Carnegie Mellon and the Human Media Lab at Queen's University in Canada are working on technology for phones that can sense when you're busy working or talking to someone and so won't ring and interrupt. Each works in a different way. The Human Media Lab system is a visual sensor that attaches to a desktop phone and figures out from your blinks and gazes whether you can take a call or not. Carnegie Mellon's SenSay is a combination of a light sensor, a motion detector, a microphone, and other sensors for cellphones which can guess what kind of environment you're in (say, a noisy garage) and then decide whether or not to put the call through or send back a text message saying you're indisposed..."<br /><br />I don't know about this - it seems like the sheer number of variables would make it almost impossible to work effectively. How can it tell the difference between me sitting at my desk, available for a phone call, and sitting in a presentation? Both scenarios would have low-level ambient noise - I wonder how it would tell them apart?

[Wuss912]

I don't know about this - it seems like the sheer number of variables would make it almost impossible to work effectively. How can it tell the difference between me sitting at my desk, available for a phone call, and sitting in a presentation? Both scenarios would have low-level ambient noise - I wonder how it would tell them apart?

by checking your calendar silly :P

[Mike Temporale]

Yes, but.... Sometimes you want to be interrupted. Lets say I was sitting in a client’s office talking about last night’s hockey game. I want to be interrupted by the phone ringing. It presents an opportunity for me to end the conversation and leave.

I would prefer that certain locations install some sort of short wave broadcast system that turns your phone to silent. Of course this has to be a standard so that it works on ALL phones, and it has to be cheap so that it can be easily purchased and installed in meeting rooms, bathrooms, movie theatres, fine restaurants.

[Graffiti]

"We don't really see the need for either ..."

It's just that, ain't it? And as BlueRocket mentioned, we DO sometimes beg for interruptions from our phone! :lol:

[Neil]

by checking your calendar silly

Smartphone 2002 actually has this feature in it. Change your profile to "automatic" and it'll swap between normal and meeting depending on your calendar. Unfortunately, as BlueRocket pointed out, it's not very useful. We've found that people keep a ton of non-meeting meetings on their calendar, or the meetings indicate places where it is perfectly appropriate for a phone to ring.

Personally, I just leave my phone in silent mode all the time. Then I never have to worry about it :)