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Korean start-up company Xtive has developed an inaudible sound sequence which is said to ward off online game addiction. The details raise our creepiness flags though. The sounds are based on subliminal effects. The sounds repeatedly sequence to tell the player to stop playing, repeating about 10,000 to 20,000 times a second. Xtive says that the sounds go unnoticed by gamers, but are heard by a higher consciousness which is likely to lead to taking a break from playing. The plan seems to allow companies to use this after young users have been monitored for playing over an alotted amount of time. So, instead of having their mommies scream at them, the voices in their head lead the way.
This scares us for a few reasons. Number one, didn’t a few kids kill themselves because of weird subliminal messages in Ozzy Osbourne songs? Ok, the subliminal message might have been slightly different, such as “KILL YOURSELF!”, but aren’t subliminal fundamentally the same? Number two, how long will it take before advertising companies take it upon themselves to profit from this type of brainwashing? — Andrew Dobrow
