This applet will not work unless a server is running on acg.media.mit.edu

The goal of this design is to express the idea of "selective hearing" in a noisy environment.

Imagine yourself in a crowded restaurant. The are many people talking all around you; words and sound are coming at you from all angles. You can't possibly understand everything that everyone is saying, but if you focus your attention on one speaker, those words become more coherent and intelligible, standing out against the background noise.

Directions:

Put the cursor in the window and type sentences, hitting the "enter" key at the end of a sentence. You will see your words and the words of other people appearing on the screen in an unintelligible jumble. Words slowly fade out over time.

To focus your attention, click on a word that interests you, and things will be come clearer. Click on the same text again (or click on a word that's not in focus) to change what you are listening to.

Cheat: To "fake" two sentences from two different clients (in case no one else is connected to the server), type "#" and press return.