Post by Tomspy77 on Mar 28, 2015 16:09:01 GMT -6
Meet the Guy Who Makes Apps for Ghost Hunters
Ghost44
We don't usually think of talking to ghosts as a high-tech activity. But one guy is making a living off of ghost hunting apps, and his story from homelessness to app entrepreneur is actually pretty extraordinary.
Over at Narratively, Robert Fieseler profiles Daniel Roberge, better known in some circles as the creator of SpiritVox. The story descends into the weird depths of ghost hunting "tech," with expensive instruments and thousand dollar cameras.
[Roberge had] always been a fan of "ghost boxes," or radio transmitters that sweep AM frequencies. Ghost boxes are part of an ITC subcategory called electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) research, which involved analyzing recorded sounds that can be interpreted as spirit voices. The first ghost box was a radio transmitter invented in 2002 by EVP enthusiast Frank Sumption. Ten years later, Roberge was shocked to find no digital version of this hardware available as mobile software. His SV-1 SpiritVox is a simple concept: an app that generates random white noise through an Android's speaker system. In theory, this noise can be used in tandem with an EVP recorder to investigate spikes in activity.
The idea of using mobile software for a serious investigation was new terrain.
You can see this as a story of redemption, as Roberge digs himself out of his life's lowest point with a clever new app. Or you can see it as a huckster making money off of the gullible. In any case, it's story about how mobile technology really can—excuse our use of the word—disrupt established industries, ghost hunting included. [Narratively]
Over at Narratively, Robert Fieseler profiles Daniel Roberge, better known in some circles as the creator of SpiritVox. The story descends into the weird depths of ghost hunting "tech," with expensive instruments and thousand dollar cameras.
[Roberge had] always been a fan of "ghost boxes," or radio transmitters that sweep AM frequencies. Ghost boxes are part of an ITC subcategory called electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) research, which involved analyzing recorded sounds that can be interpreted as spirit voices. The first ghost box was a radio transmitter invented in 2002 by EVP enthusiast Frank Sumption. Ten years later, Roberge was shocked to find no digital version of this hardware available as mobile software. His SV-1 SpiritVox is a simple concept: an app that generates random white noise through an Android's speaker system. In theory, this noise can be used in tandem with an EVP recorder to investigate spikes in activity.
The idea of using mobile software for a serious investigation was new terrain.
You can see this as a story of redemption, as Roberge digs himself out of his life's lowest point with a clever new app. Or you can see it as a huckster making money off of the gullible. In any case, it's story about how mobile technology really can—excuse our use of the word—disrupt established industries, ghost hunting included. [Narratively]