Pass the microphone by throwing it.
A soft microphone can be thrown across a room, with its audio muted while it moves.
FI FinlandIn practice. A Finnish-origin microphone system first offered in 2013; current Cube documentation explains its wireless connection and motion muting.
What to keep in view
Motion muting is documented. Improved learning or participation for every group is not established by the product mechanism.
Moving the microphone becomes part of the design
Catchbox puts a microphone inside a soft enclosure that participants can pass or throw to one another. Its motion-triggered muting suppresses audio while the microphone is moving. The product was publicly offered for pre-order in December 2013. Later Cube documentation explains how the same core interaction fits a wireless microphone system.
The transport of the microphone becomes part of participation. Motion sensing suppresses the handling noise that would otherwise make throwing it impractical.
The mechanics of taking a turn
Our reading: the way a microphone reaches someone can determine whether they join a discussion. Bringing it directly to a seated participant makes taking a turn visible and immediate, with hand-to-hand passing available when throwing is unsuitable.
Useful for educators, facilitators and event teams considering how the mechanics of taking a turn affect a room.
Read next.
Music made by moving objects on a table.
Both make an interaction visible in a shared room. One changes how people take a speaking turn; the other exposes relationships inside a digital instrument.
A better grip on an ordinary key.
Both redesign the contact between a person and an existing tool. A soft enclosure changes how a microphone travels; a wing changes how a key turns.