Vuvuzela: BeIN Sports' Delightfully Annoying New Way to Change the Channel

Sports fans now have a surefire, albeit annoying, way to commandeer their television sets. International sports network BeIN Sports and TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York have created a unique remote control, the "Gamechanger," a vuvuzela that changes the channel to BeIN when a user blows it. For those of you unfamiliar with the instrument, it's a plastic horn that make a cacophonous honk when blown, and it's perhaps best known as a distraction deviced used by South African football fans during major games. The BeIN invention uses an arduino platform to work: a mini microphone picks up the noise, read by a 32-bit microchip, which then transmits IR LED signals to cable boxes to change the channel. The video here demonstrates, to hilarious effect, how it works it various TV-viewing scenarios. Fans who want to partake in the fun can get more info at beINgamechanger.com and can make a request for a "Gamechanger" of their own on social media using the hashtag #beINgamechanger. "The vuvuzela has, rightly or wrongly, become iconic for soccer fans," said BeIN Sports Marketing Director Juan Ochoa in a statement. "We're repurposing it for good, and in doing so showing BeIN Sports viewers and fans we share their love and passion for the great international sport."

Vuvuzela: BeIN Sports' Delightfully Annoying New Way to Change the Channel

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