New Tech Bends Sound Through Space So It Reaches Only Your Ear in a Crowd
1 min read
Summary
Researchers at Penn State have proposed a new way to send sound to one specific listener using self-bending ultrasound beams and a concept called nonlinear acoustics.
Normally sound waves combine linearly, meaning they just proportional add into a bigger wave, but the researchers’ technique uses two ultrasound beams at different frequencies that are completely silent on their own.
When they intersect in space, nonlinear effects cause them to generate a new sound wave at an audible frequency that would be heard only in that specific region.
The ultrasonic beams can bend on their own using specialised materials that manipulate sound waves.
The technology has several potential applications such as personalised audio in public spaces and noise cancellation.
