Imperial Department of Military Research IT-O Interrogator Droid

WATCH THIS VIDEO ASAP, especially if you’re going to be anywhere near the front lines, and disseminate it as widely as you can. The creator has gotten legal threats over it, so it may not be available forever.

Sonic weapons are being deployed by the police more and more, and frankly, they scare the shit out of me. At their higher settings, they can blow out your eardrums *instantly*, and cause severe permanent hearing damage. Even some of the lower settings can cause hearing damage after a few seconds.

If you see a sonic weapon out in the field, afaik the most effective way to protect yourself is to get as far away from it as you can, as fast as you can - preferably moving sideways at a 90 degree angle to the direction the weapon is pointed, since they’re very directional. But even if your angle of escape is constrained, the more distance you can put between you and it, the better.

If you’re determined to stand your ground, or you can’t get far enough away, then as detailed in the video, you *might* be able to mitigate some (but probably not all) of the damage by holding a large, thin piece of cardboard (like a protest sign) between your head and the weapon - this works by reflecting some of the sound waves away from you, so try not to reflect them onto any other protesters or innocent bystanders. Conventional hearing protection is apparently ineffective.

I don’t entirely grok the physics behind that, but there’s some discussion of it in the YouTube comments, including a detailed (if arcane) explanation from the inventor of the technology (who did not intend for it to be used as a weapon):

A directed-energy weapon (DEW) emits highly focused energy, transferring that energy to a target to damage it. Potential applications of this technology include anti-personnel weapon systems, potential missile defense system, and the disabling of lightly armored vehicles such as cars, drones, jet skis, and electronic devices such as mobile phones. The energy can come in various forms: - Electromagnetic radiation, including radio frequency, microwave, lasers and masers - Particles with mass, in particle-beam weapons (technically a form of micro-projectile weapon) - Sound, in sonic weapons

Holowan Laboratories IG-Series Assassin Droid

Krupx Munitions Void-7 Seismic Charge