A new open-source tool, Chirp, developed by solst/ICE, enables data transmission via audio tones between microphone-equipped devices. It maps characters to sound frequencies, allowing messages to be sent and received without traditional wireless connections.

While not practical for all scenarios due to background noise interference, Chirp could be useful for short-range, offline, and low-power communication. However, it lacks error correction and stops listening while transmitting, leading to potential message loss.

Inspired by ggwave, a data-over-sound library by Georgi Gerganov, the developer plans to explore hypersonic (inaudible) sound for stealthier messaging. The tool is available on GitHub and processes all data on the client side without sending it to a server.

The concept of audio-based data transfer is not new, with historical precedents like MOSQUITO (2018), Chirp.io (Sonos, 2020), and modem-based communications.

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