Can you Hide From my Super Hearing Helmet?

Inspired by the new Horror Film "A Quiet Place: Day One" Sam builds a super-human hearing device and tests it on the Crew!

Creative Tools ►

[dudedude]

Oh yea, that opening shot wasn't horrifying at all

[SimplCup]

ngl, those ears on eyes at the beginning are much better composited than the third eye of Dr. Strange lmao

[andymcl]

So, sound localisation was literally the topic of my PhD. Really enjoyed this video. Some context:

There are 4 main types of cues we use for localisation. Spectral filtering by our pinnae (the flappy bits of our ears that we see), interaural level differences (difference in sound level between ears), interaural time differences (difference in timing between ears), and dynamic cues (how those interaural differences change as we move).

By using head-mounted microphones, Sam is getting rid of the unique spectral filtering that his ears do, simply by being the shape they are. These are cues that he's learned over his whole life, but are mainly used to give him information about the height of a sound. You could get round this by using in-ear microphones, but the compression (see below) would still alter this. You can learn new pinna cues, but it takes about a fortnight of constant use to get back to your natural ability.

The level-difference cues are trickier to work out. Normally, we compare the difference in level between our ears since our head creates a shadow for the ear facing away from the sound. But where the mics are mounted, he'll have lost that effect. However, I don't know how directional those microphones are. Buuut, the bigger issue is the “limiter”. I don't know whether it was a hard limit, or a linear compression, or something else that was used to prevent Sam from destroying his hearing, but it makes level differences much smaller than they should be. This is something that can happen with hearing aids too, and can actually cause sounds to feel like they're at the opposite side from where they really are.

So to the main event, time difference. A sound off to the left will reach the left ear before the right one (and vice versa). For lower pitched sounds, we can detect these tiny differences and use them to figure out the direction. Cranking the volume up won't affect this. But the fact that those mics are further apart than Sam's ears likely means he had a “zoomed in” perception of direction, which is probably what really made this possible for him after taking away all those other cues.

[nrgthedude]

You should try setting up a vr headset with a render of the studio where the walls only appear when you're close to better reassemble echo location and let Sam move around without fear of bumping into walls and door frames

[ChaseSchleich]

The big difference between someone with mics on their head and the aliens from A Quiet Place is the aliens are stronger, faster, and willing to throw themselves into a wall to get a kill. If Sam had the same aggression as those aliens, he likely would have gotten more kills, but humans have caution and self-preservation, so he walked more slowly and cautiously to avoid hurting himself. The aliens don't give a crap lol

[muditahlawat]

imagine bending down to hide near these creatures and your knees crack cuz you're old af ☠

[timothyprescott]

"How'd work go, honey?"
"We played hide and go seek"
"That's nice, wait what?"

[Shinransa]

Jordan stress eating popcorn while Wren is being chased by a blind monster is a crazy visual.

[lanemoyer]

I think a great next edition for this would be using your guys’ 3D VR rendition of the office and replicate it so that sam can see his surroundings like echo-location but still have to track down the people by sound. Then he could REALLY chase them down!!

[amNightFrog]

Just imagine an already blind person and have been living using their ears who's chill enough and will take it seriously to cooperate with this

[DaimonAnimations]

Not sure about dogs but I know Cats also use their long eyebrows and whiskers to sense vibrations on the air, so no matter how quiet you are they still feel the vibrations of you getting closer to it.

[SomeLutefisk]

It'd be cool if they tried this game in the dark, so the hearing person has an advantage.

[DarthMunchkin]

Wren: this will be easy
Sam: how easy will it be when I’m aiming a Glock at you
Wren: 😧😧😧😧
The rest of the crew randomly overhearing this: 😮😮😮😮

[Jedi_Pirate]

I would say that getting one is still a win. As animals/monsters that have had this hearing all their lives, they have honed in to what they are hunting. They have had years to perfect the ability to pinpoint and adjust to the sounds their prey makes. Sam is going into this as a beginner, I am sure over time, he will perfect his hearing ability.

[madjangler]

I think it’s fair to assume the creatures would also have superior audio-spatial processing, so I kind of thought you’d take it up a notch and use some kind of screen to visualize your audio input

[ShutterAuthority]

That head rig is so cool! We've got lots of tech to enhance vision, first time seeing something for sound. Also, thanks the shoutout Sam!

[DJLCBrown]

The monsters in the movie are way faster than people, right? In the game, everyone should have to walk at a medium or slow pace to mimic the disparity.

[LeSuper_BoB]

you have literally created a Minecraft Warden with a gun XD

[AwesmFilms]

this is such a cool idea! I think trying this out with a 360º mic may yield interesting results. Sam can only hear what's in front of him with the set up whereas the monsters would be able to have an entire spatial auditory image

[guanzhe]

0:00 How I imagine people when they say "I'm all ears"