A "high-tech megaphone" tested in Beaver Stadium last summer could one day be used at Penn State as a warning device.
Nicholas C. Nicholas, co-principal researcher at Penn State's Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies, said the device will be demonstrated at the end of the month and the government will then likely start taking bids to produce the device.
Developed by the institute, the device -- called the Distributed Sound and Light Array Debilitator -- could be heard for more than a mile, institute director Andrew Mazzara said.
He said the device was considered as a candidate to augment other defense and safety devices such as PSUTXT after the Virginia Tech University shooting. The "PA system on steroids" is specifically designed to project a clear and consistent message, he added.
Penn State Police Lt. Clifford Lutz, who is a member of the Emergency Management Team, said the group has looked at the device, but could not use it on campus until it is out of experimental stages and is patented.
He said the device could work in and around buildings, so people could clearly hear alerts.
Nicholas said the "hail and warning device" involves a line of projectors that can be steered electronically.
It was developed after an Italian journalist was shot accidentally in Iraq. Guilana Sgrena was shot and wounded by American Marines after her release from kidnappers, according to The Associated Press.
The American military said soldiers used hand signals, lights and warning shots to caution the driver of the car Sgrena was in, according to The AP.
Nicholas said the incident prompted the military to look into more efficient hail and warning devices for checkpoints and ships.
He said the institute tested the non-lethal weapon in Beaver Stadium last summer.
After mounting it to the top of the stadium, researchers tested the sound, which could be heard in the Bryce Jordan Center lobby, Nicholas said.
In 2005, a cruise ship used the Long Range Acoustic Device to blast a ship of pirates who were trying to board, according to The AP.
The weapons are particularly useful when military officers are on humanitarian missions, Mazzara said.
The institute was created to test and research weapons "designed expressly with intention to not cause a fatality or serious injury," he said.
