Hospitals and drugstores are increasingly installing speech privacy systems to keep patients from being overheard by others when divulging sensitive private information to staff.
At Ebira Pharmacy, a drugstore in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, speakers in the waiting room start making a muffled sound when a patient talks to a pharmacist in a booth. A sign in the lounge informs people that the pharmacy is operating "a machine that makes conversations indiscernible."
A microphone system picks up the conversation and turns it into a scrambled noise, says manufacturer Glory Ltd. In addition to drugstores and hospitals, banks are also introducing the system.