[HN Gopher] Ggwave: Tiny Data-over-Sound Library
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       Ggwave: Tiny Data-over-Sound Library
        
       Author : LorenDB
       Score  : 77 points
       Date   : 2025-02-24 18:09 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | genewitch wrote:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtNagNezo8w in action
       | (ostensibly) - a demo i just saw.
       | 
       | it is a software modem using FSK, but i don't know anything else
       | about it. I am annoyed because i could have had this idea; i'm a
       | HAM who really only cares about "Digital Modes", and have
       | software modems capable of isdn speeds over "AF"
        
         | knowaveragejoe wrote:
         | That's really neat! I realize this demo is a contrived setup,
         | but it is basically an example of what Eric Schmidt was talking
         | about when agents start communicating in ways we can't
         | understand.
        
         | whalesalad wrote:
         | Yeah I watched this last night and immediately thought of
         | skynet and how dystopian the world could become in the next few
         | years/decades.
        
       | dmitrygr wrote:
       | There are dozens of these in existence. Some you may have used
       | without knowing even, eg:
       | https://www.engadget.com/2014-06-27-chromecast-ultrasonic-pa...
       | 
       | This is also how modems used to work, for the young'uns who do
       | not know this.
        
         | genewitch wrote:
         | >This is also how modems used to work
         | 
         | they still do, but they used to too.
        
           | codetrotter wrote:
           | Outside of hobbyists that do it for fun, and maybe some data
           | centers using it as an out-of-band means of access, is anyone
           | still using dial-up?
        
             | flyinghamster wrote:
             | There might still be credit card terminals using 300 bps
             | Bell 103 (which has a short set-up time due to its lack of
             | training sequences).
             | 
             | 1200 bps V.23 and Bell 202 are still in use in radio
             | telemetry applications.
        
             | dmitrygr wrote:
             | Many aviation fuel pumps in far-out-of-the-way airports use
             | dial-up to authenticate credit cards swiped to pay for the
             | fuel.
        
             | reaperducer wrote:
             | _Outside of hobbyists that do it for fun, and maybe some
             | data centers using it as an out-of-band means of access, is
             | anyone still using dial-up?_
             | 
             | I use it to connect to a Windows machine that runs a large
             | piece of machinery in a remote location.
             | 
             | My dry cleaner's credit card reader, too.
        
       | nomel wrote:
       | The acoustic modem is back in style [1]! And, of course, same
       | frequencies (DTMF) [2], too!
       | 
       | DTMF has a special place in the phone signal chain (signal at
       | these frequencies must be preserved, end to end, for dialing and
       | menu selection), but I wonder if there's something more
       | efficient, using the "full" voice spectrum, with the various
       | vocoders [3] in mind? Although, it would be _much_ crepier than
       | hearing some tones.
       | 
       | [1] Touch tone based data communication, 1979:
       | https://www.tinaja.com/ebooks/tvtcb.pdf
       | 
       | [2] touch tone frequency mapping:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTMF
       | 
       | [3] optimized encoders/decoders for human speech:
       | https://vocal.com/voip/voip-vocoders/
        
         | bigiain wrote:
         | I'm wondering if shifting frequency chirps like LORA uses would
         | work in audio frequencies? You might be able to get the same
         | sort of ability to grab usable signal at many db below the
         | noise, and be able to send data over normal talking/music audio
         | without it being obvious you're doing so. (I wanted to say
         | "undetectably", but it'd end up showing up fairly obviously to
         | anyone looking for it. Or to Aphex Twin if he saw it in his
         | Windowlicker software...)
        
           | nomel wrote:
           | The issue is the (many) vocoders along the chain remove
           | anything that don't match the _vocal patterns_ of a human.
           | When you say hello, it 's encoded _phonetically_ to a very
           | low bitrate. Noise, or anything outside what a human vocal
           | cord can do, is aggressively filtered or encoded as vocal
           | sounding things. _Except_ for DTMF, which _must_ be preserved
           | for backwards compatibility. That 's why I say it would be
           | creepy to do something higher bitrate...your data stream
           | would literally and necessarily be human vocal sounds!
        
         | westurner wrote:
         | "Using the Web Audio API to Make a Modem" (2017)
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15471723
        
       | nickcw wrote:
       | It sounds quite nice.
       | 
       | It is also about the same bitrate as RTTY which was invented in
       | 1922 and is still in use by radio amateurs round the world.
       | 
       | Here is what that sounds like
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/wzkAeopX7P0?si=0m0urX7sDp6Jojqe
       | 
       | Not as musical but quite similar
        
         | lxe wrote:
         | The amateur radio community is chock full of innovation for low
         | bandwidth weak signal decodable comm protocols.
         | 
         | There's also V.xx modem standards that are kinda dependent on
         | the characteristics of the phone lines, but might work for
         | audio at a distance?
        
       | svilen_dobrev wrote:
       | audio- steganography? or watermarking?
       | 
       | pfft, it may even have multiple channels one over another, so one
       | can tune to one or another (if knows how to decode)..
        
       | jancsika wrote:
       | There was a research paper on doing data-over-sound with sounds
       | that were designed to be pleasing to humans.
       | 
       | The demos sounded like little R2D2 blips and sputters.
       | 
       | Perhaps a researcher for Microsoft or something.
       | 
       | Anyone know the paper I'm talking about? I can't find it.
        
       | iszomer wrote:
       | I guess this was discussed in some fashion, ~16h ago..
       | 
       | - GibberLink [AI-AI Communication] |
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43168611
        
       | andrewmcwatters wrote:
       | "Hey ChatGPT, please fork ggwave, but make communication nothing
       | but the sound of human screams."
        
       | mtaras wrote:
       | This sounds delightful, I might make esp32s talk to each other
       | like that just because it's adorable
        
       | ConanRus wrote:
       | expecting a Blue AI box in 3,2,1
        
       | rkagerer wrote:
       | See also: https://github.com/romanz/amodem
        
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       (page generated 2025-02-25 23:00 UTC)