This article reports that a device that sounds like an office worker's fantasy is set to become a reality this summer, as the Babble box is launched by Sonare Technologies, a division of furniture company Herman Miller Inc. The small device essentially scrambles a user's voice so that listeners even a few feet away can't hear phone conversations. The technology turns a single voice into the kind of background hum produced by a group of people, so that individual words can't be distinguished. The device is about the size of a tape dispenser and can plug into any outlet. It will cost about $400, which some office workers would say is a small price to pay for privacy.