In 2009 he began to hear for the first time in the streets of Tokyo. For years, Kitikahama Park, in the Adachi district, had been a recurring white acts of vandalism, especially in public facilities such as bathrooms and urban furniture. Damage, mainly attributed to groups of adolescents who frequent the area at night, had meant a significant cost for local authorities. And since then, an imperceptible noise for much of the population has been recurring.
A sound that has its origin in Europe.
The mosquito. Years before, in 2005, the New York Times talked about the arrival of an invention to the United Kingdom. What began as a child auditory discomfort was transformed years later into an unusual solution for a persistent urban problem. Howard Stapleton, a British engineer, remembered how, at age 12, when he entered a factory with his father, he was forced to go out immediately by an unbearable sound that adults did not even perceive.
Decades later, that experience led him to create the mosquito, a device that emits a high frequency buzz perceptible only by young ears (mainly around twenty) and practically inaudible for those who have passed thirty. Its purpose was as direct as controversial: driving away adolescents who congregate in noisy in front of stores, generating discomfort, intimidations and even episodes of robbery and violence, without the need for direct confrontation.
Personal idea to experiment. The first real mosquito test took place in Barry in 2005, a town in southern Wales, in front of a spar grocery store, managed by Robert Gough and his family. Before the installation, the place suffered daily the presence of teenagers who smoked, drank, insulted customers and broke into the establishment. Gough had considered resorting to classical music to large volume, but never implemented it.
It was Stapleton who offered to install the test in the test phase. In a matter of little time, the usual congregation of adolescents disappeared. Some tried to resist, entering the store with their fingers in their ears and asking to turn off the buzz. Gough, ingenious, told them that the device was to scare birds due to avian flu. The result was a radical transformation: adolescents before conflicting now entered, bought, and they were going without causing problems.
Mosquito installation in a Philadelphia store
It hurts, but it doesn’t exhaust. We talk about a device that emits a kind of chirp Pulsor above 17 kilohertz, up to 75/80 decibels, comparable to a tinnitus noise, it is not painful, but very irritating. Stapleton said he tested different frequencies with the help of his own children until he found a formula that “did not harm, but would bother enough to want to leave.” His intention was never punished, but simply deter, causing an discomfort that pushed the adolescent to retire on his own.
While some adults can still perceive the sound, the device is designed thinking about behavior patterns rather than strict age ranges: hardly a 30 -year -old person is around the entrance of a store for hours. Professor Andrew King, an expert in neurophysiology at the University of Oxford, recognized the Times years ago that although high frequency audition decreases with age, that loss is gradual and, therefore, some adults could also hear it.
Stapleton will consider it irrelevant: “The mosquito is not for them.”
Cross borders. After its appearance, the mosquito generated great interest. Stores, railway deposits, shopping centers and local British authorities requested units. Stapleton, at that time, already contemplated more powerful versions by panic button, designed to repel crowds that enter into mass to steal, which in the United Kingdom is known as steaming. His logic was simple: “It is difficult to steal with the fingers in the ears.”
From Europe and the US to Japan. Four years after the invention was established in different cities of the United Kingdom, then Europe, and finally the United States, the mosquito made the leap to Japan. Given the numerous acts of vandalism, the district of Adachi decided to resort to the controversial technological solution, but growing in popularity.
Pilot test In Japan, some businesses had already previously implemented it after receiving complaints about garbage, noise and concentration of youth groups, but 2009 was the first time it was installed in a public park. The Adachi administration, which had hired the device to the Melc Co LTD company, based in Chiyoda, installed it in the area as part of an essay that would last until March 2010.
In the background: Vandalism costs in the 470 parks and public areas of Adachi in the previous years had exceeded 3 million yen, so any solution that could reduce non -invasive figures represented an attractive option. According to Melc representatives, the objective was clear: generate an environment uncomfortable for offenders without altering the tranquility of the rest of citizens or provoking neighborhood complaints.
And in the trains. Although today the number of facilities of this type is unknown in Japan, in social networks there are many young videos and comments alluding to this type of sounds. Bloomberg had that even a version of the mosquito has also been installed in trains stations. In many of them ultrasonic devices had been placed that emitted a high frequency sound only noticeable for children under 25 years.
The devices, designed to discourage merodeus without confrontations, caused obvious reactions in students: discomfort grimaces, accelerated steps and complaints, without most knew where the sound comes from. Meanwhile, older adults walk imperturbable, unable to hear the signal. The technology, originally from Wales, had found in Japan its most systematic and culturally accepted use.
Between defense and stigma. They told Stapleton in a long NPR interview that the mosquito has generated a debate on the limits of technological intervention in public space. While some celebrate their ability to restore tranquility in commercial and school areas without violence or confrontations, others consider that their indiscriminate use may be equivalent to criminalizing youth by default.
Stapleton replied that the true enemy is not adolescence, but the lack of respect for a minority. In his opinion, it is about returning control of public spaces to respectful citizens, without resorting to excessive measures or physical punishment, as was the case in the past. However, he also admitted that it is not a definitive solution and that its installation must be accompanied by human judgment.
Legal milestone. The use of the device has generated a strong legal controversy in Europe and other regions, with multiple organizations and authorities questioning their compatibility with human rights. Groups like Liberty warn that it could violate articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Kingdom Human Rights Law. A report by the Council of Europe described it as “painful”, “degrading” and “discriminatory” towards young people, asking for their prohibition.
Although a motion in the European Parliament to veto it did not prosper, countries like Belgium have requested their prohibition, and French courts have already failed against their use. In Ireland, it could be considered a form of aggression according to the law, although it has not yet been judged in court. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom does not plan to prohibit it, despite reports that suggest that the device can reach volumes far superior to those officially declared.
Thus, the mosquito and its variants, with its almost imperceptible hum frequency.
Image | Adam Cohn, Sunmist, Mosquito
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