Gadgetory

it's a busy night at Kamal a New Mexican restaurant in Berkeley California it's almost a little bit of cognitive dissonance where you look around and you hear all this noise and you think I'm not gonna be able to have a conversation and then you sit down and realize that there's this little bubble around you restaurant owner John paluska was able to achieve that bubble with the help of acoustic engineer John Mayer you have to kind of what we called amp the restaurant or get rid of the fact that it you're in a cave to do that several the restaurants wall panels are lined with burlap sacks over tectum an absorbent acoustic material this painting behind me is more than just wall art it's the latest in acoustic technology made of a special canvas and stuffed with recycled denim it's designed to absorb any unnecessary sound around us the real acoustic magic comes from a system of microphones and speakers throughout the restaurant the microphones will pick up our conversation with you technology then you can then isolate the table but not carry it anywhere else no occupancy mode paluska and his staff can control the level of the playback through a simple iPad and iPhone app designed by Meyer sound and we try to maintain the music at a sort of consistent level in relation to the sound in the room well paluska hasn't seen a direct correlation with sales he says diners appear comfortable linger longer and return for repeat visit it's easier to have a conversation than most restaurants or whatever they're doing is working really well and that is music to any restaurant owners ears in Berkeley I'm Kara Tsuboi cnet.com for CBS News