A research team at Disney has created a so-called 'magical' microphone which can transmit sound secretly between two people using the human body.
The technique is named Ishin-Den-Shin after a Japanese term for "interpersonal communication through unspoken mutual understanding". Literally translated it means "what the mind thinks, the heart transmits".
It consists of a microphone which records sounds, and then transforms it into an inaudible signal which is transmitted to a person's body.
That signal can be transmitted by physically touching another person, and is only audible when that person is touching the other's ear:
"The sound can be heard only by the specific ear which is touched, as if the finger would be whispering the recorded sounds. Secrets, messages and whispers can then be transmitted from person to person in physical contact with each others. Bodies become a broadcasting medium for intimate, physical, sound communication."
It uses similar tech to that seen in the 'bone conduction' audio system inside Google's Glass, and other products, which use inaudible vibrations to send sound to a single, specific person.
The idea won an honorary mention at the Ars Electronica Festival in Austria. Disney Research recently unveiled another innovation which can turn 2D photos into 3D images.
Take a look at how it works, below. Find out more at the Disney Research website.