Soon, wi-fi devices to use sound to connect

A leading American firm has proposed to use beeping audio tones, that once came from dial-up modems, to connect wi-fi devices like TVs and speakers to routers.

At present, users are required to punch in a distinct eight-digit ID code, which is displayed in a TV’s set-up menu or printed at the back of the wireless speakers, into the router, making certain that it only interacts with those devices.

But the entire process consumes a lot of time and for people with impaired vision, it is quite complicated too. 

Multinational firm Intel, which came across this avant-garde idea at its applications lab in Portland, Oregon, intends to substitute the manual process with an automated audio communication scheme.

The technique would involve wi-fi-capable gadgets, having built-in speakers, to produce a unique series of sounds to a wi-fi router equipped with a microphone.

“The unauthorised wireless device audibly emits a uniquely identifying secret code,” New Scientist quoted inventors Marc Meylemans and Gary Martz as telling in their patent.

When the router perceives the sound of the code, it authenticates the device type and then automatically connects it with the wireless network.

Different type of sounds could be emitted apart from bleeps. For instance, they could be coded clicks or even music, the pair writes and for visually challenged, it could also speak the code with a voice synthesiser.