This is what is called the Internet of Sound, the speakernet. Using sound to send links to remote networks is one thing, but local lookup tables on-device obviate the need for another network: the sound is the network. Today’s technology is sufficient at present only to send tiny amounts of data through or above audible ranges, but good enough to encode every URL ever created as audio lasting a few seconds or less.

Why Is This A Powerful Idea? There are more tiny, cheap speakers on the planet than there are people. Why not leverage this ubiquitous, commodity technology? We see a huge opportunity to connect a very large number of devices simply and intuitively.

Source: The Internet Of Sound | TechCrunch

Basically, small speakers can transfer information from one device to another, at various ranges, at frequencies that humans cannot detect. It’s another medium for information transfer, using sound.

It’s fascinating, and it brings a few things to mind for me.

• It’s local technology, which I find interesting for applications like Universal Daemonization, where they need to work within X number of feet
• Spoofing will be an issue, as many vendors will assume obscurity protects them. Attackers will capture, replay, and reverse engineer sounds to allow them to manipulate systems
• Saturation will become an issue as there are thousands of devices broadcasting in one area. This could become a safety issue as well, with sound being sound even if it’s not audible
• Countermeasures are interesting. What happens when you inject false sound to confuse receivers. Or blast across all used ranges to disable communication?

I think it’s really interesting. It’s a whole new (but counterintuitive and hidden) surface for attack that it’s time we start paying attention to.