WATCH: Video of the Japanese ‘Speech-Jammer’ gun in action

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Japanese researchers have created a “gun” that enables its user to silence the speech of other people. The device uses a unidirectional microphone to record the speaker’s voice, then play it back to them at a delay of hundredths of a millisecond. The wash of verbiage disrupts the concentration of the speaker and renders them incapable of speech.

The sampled-and-returned speech is audible only to the targeted individual and the resulting effect is said to be like “hearing a recording of one’s own voice echoing inside one’s skull,” which creates a kind of induced stutter.

In the video below, embedded via YouTube, you can watch volunteers being exposed to the Speech-Jammer and see its effects in real time.