Although the third device is labelled as “method”, there is indeed something physical to represent the results of this method.

Actually, there’s two parts, a recorded message and a player, that also works as a box to contain the recorded message. The message takes the form of a rigged strip, while the player is a box, with a tubular structure on it that serve as a guide for positioning your hand.

To be precise, the box acts as a resonance chamber, while the job of actual playing the message is carried out by the fingernail of the user.

It is quite remarkable in its simplicity, how a voice is captured in a physical shape. We are so used to think of sound as something disembodied, that travels through the air without contact, that it’s easy to forget that sound is eminently physical, created by vibration; it needs matter, it cannot travel through a void.(That’s why in space no one can hear you scream).

While the reproduction is simple, the recording method appears quite complex, according to the illustration that came through. However no other information about the actual process is shown.

The soundboxes I received are a little different from the illustration; the finger guide is removable, and can be stored inside the box. It is kept in place by two screw with handles that look like clock keys, which makes them easy to use. There is also a channel to guide the soundstrip.

I have three boxes that differ in details. They are well made but they do not appear to be as finished as the goggles; no pretty box, no advertising cut, the illustration is quite different from the final product (that is, assuming that what I have is the final version). I wonder what happened there.

Device 3 in action – Photos by Koen Jacobs

Device four ->