Opera Software"s R&D department today announced the discovery of a new technology dubbed "Opera SoundWave" - a platform-independent speech solution for short- and medium-range interpersonal communication. Based on open standards, Opera"s patent-pending P2P speech technology uses analogue signals carried through open air, enabling users to communicate in real-time without the use of computers or mobile phones.
Opera is spearheading the development to let people communicate without using a keyboard, and the new SoundWave technology was accidently discovered during an R&D study to speech-enable Opera"s e-mail client. One of Opera"s desktop developers needed to find an alternative way to relay a message to his colleague at a time when the e-mail server was down, and was startled to notice that his verbal outcry was intercepted and understood immediately.