Kiwi cones of silence for Big Day Out

The cone of silence used by Agent 86 in the 1960s American comedy series Get Smart is getting a 21st-century makeover through a Christchurch design company.

Brown Kiwi has developed three cones, dubbed "hush cones", for Friday's Big Day Out concert in Auckland. They are designed so people can step inside them and make calls on their cellphones in peace while surrounded by noise.

Telecom commissioned Brown Kiwi to design the cones because as a sponsor of the Big Day Out it wanted to solve the problem of people not being able to hear the person on the other end of the phone in noisy places.

A Telecom spokeswoman said nothing was available in New Zealand, so it challenged Brown Kiwi to come up with a design.

The cones do not block out 100 per cent of surrounding noise but make it a lot easier to make calls.

Brown Kiwi managing director Miles Thornley designed and developed the cones, with the help of his father, in two weeks. A project of this type would usually take six weeks.

The cones were a prototype that could be developed further if the demand was there, Thornley said.

They are made from fibreglass, moulded at another Christchurch firm, Reflex Industrial Fibreglass, and have layers of acoustic foam inside to block out sound.

Thornley set up Brown Kiwi in 2000 after working as a signwriter.

The company, which employs three staff and has a turnover of about $500,000, specialises in quirky and niche industrial design.

The Get Smart programme did not enter Thornley's mind when he designed the cones, which was just as well because the one on the show, used by Smart and his boss, never worked.