Yamaha Displays 1mm-Thick Cloth Speaker
A speaker made from cloth you can actually print on.
Various reports indicate that Yamaha quietly showcased a prototype speaker technology during CEATEC 2009 that measured 1-mm thick, and made from non-woven cloth and metallic film. The prototype was used as a banner to advertise the exhibition, resembling a large poster hanging from a long frame. It's believed that the new speaker could revolutionize both the billboard and portable media industries if Yamaha decides to go commercial.
According to Engadget, the prototype was highly directional in sound; PCWorld said the same thing, reporting that visitors standing on one side or another of the speaker--or even standing behind the device--could not hear any sound whatsoever. However, they received full audio when passing in front of the cloth-like speaker: the voice of a woman speaking.
Apparently, there's no overlap of sound when two speakers hang side by side, even when playing different audio files. When moving to the second speaker, visitors were unable to hear what's playing on the first speaker hanging just two or three steps away. This is due to the speaker's shape and its ability to produce flat sound waves rather than the traditional curved wave.
Thanks to the speaker's composition, corporations and advertisers can print logos and other messages directly onto the speaker using standard printing processes such as an inkjet printer or silk screening.
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I'll just pick a few of these up and hang them around my room, goodbye bulky mess!
this could be really cool for ultra-ultra-thin laptops
Build them into a chair and get a massage.
This is the perfect advertisement. You can print on it, it produces audio, and it can only be heard from a very specific area? Perfect.
I wonder what the folks over in creative marketing are going to come up with.
I wonder what the quality is like.
Wow, this is just... wow! I love to see stories like this. Truly new and innovative technology. The applications for something like this are limitless.
I'll just pick a few of these up and hang them around my room, goodbye bulky mess!
Yeah, you can bet they won't have any bass to them though. You have to be able to move enough air to produce low, powerful tones, like a kick drum in a song or an explosion in a movie. There's just no way that cloth can do that. That's probably why this tech was being demo'd as an advertisement instead of a replacement for speakers.
"Various reports indicate that Yamaha quietly showcased a prototype speaker technology..." lol yeah, i'm guessing 1mm thick piece of fabric can't produce anything to high in volume or quality.
Very nice!
Surround sound wall paper
Let's see, a woman's voice emitting from my own towel...
;P
Pretty sure its ultrsound audio that works by creating interfearance patterns beetween two ultrasonic sources. It should have a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 KHz.
Let's see, a woman's voice emitting from my own towel... ;P
[Seductive voice]Bob, you missed a spot.
Thats pretty damn cool. cover my room in those speakers , then throw a bass in the room and I'm done.
Reminds me of the movie Minority Report.
Could you elaborate a bit about your "flat sound wave" comment?
Normal sound waves aren't always curved. There are many, many basic forms of a sound wave. Sine (what you probably know as curvy), Sawtooth, Square, and triangle. Mixing these basic waves together creates the complex wave that normally makes up any given sound. That's basically how synthesizers make sound (in a very basic manner of speaking).
Now, to say that the wave is FLAT... you're either saying it's a square wave (which would be an inaccurate description), or.... silence.
Please elaborate.
Would be a major product of interest for onstage musicians.
I can also see this product installed in airplanes and tourbusses above the passengers as their personal radio or monitor.
Also in churches, cathedrals, exhibitions and museums it would help!
I want one now.
Could you elaborate a bit about your "flat sound wave" comment?Normal sound waves aren't always curved. There are many, many basic forms of a sound wave. Sine (what you probably know as curvy), Sawtooth, Square, and triangle. Mixing these basic waves together creates the complex wave that normally makes up any given sound. That's basically how synthesizers make sound (in a very basic manner of speaking).Now, to say that the wave is FLAT... you're either saying it's a square wave (which would be an inaccurate description), or.... silence.Please elaborate.
I believe he meant to call the path the sound travels on "flat" instead of the normal conical shape.
A regular speaker projects sound in a cone whereas these project it in a rectangular prism (well, could depend on the shape of the speaker could be a cylinder).
That's why you can't hear the sound even when you're only a few feet away. Instead of going in all directions, it's focused. If you're not in the prism/cylinder thing, you won't hear it.
I seriously doubt that these speakers have adequate audio quality.
Besides that, speakers in different forms and shapes is not really new. People have experimented for decades or even centuries by now.
Take a look at electrostatic speakers or band (ribbon) speakers as "non-conventional" examples. They are quite pricey but they usually have exceptional audio quality.
Building good speakers is an art and not something you pull out of a hat. The creators behind the most expensive pieces (we're talking millions of dollars, or 50 pounds of gold in case of sudden inflation) have spent their entire lives seeking the ultimate perfection in their designs. The goal is that when you close your eyes and listen to classical music you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between the speakers and a real orchestra.
Could you elaborate a bit about your "flat sound wave" comment?Normal sound waves aren't always curved. There are many, many basic forms of a sound wave. Sine (what you probably know as curvy), Sawtooth, Square, and triangle. Mixing these basic waves together creates the complex wave that normally makes up any given sound. That's basically how synthesizers make sound (in a very basic manner of speaking).Now, to say that the wave is FLAT... you're either saying it's a square wave (which would be an inaccurate description), or.... silence.Please elaborate.
You're confusing the shape of the wave with the direction of propagation. You can have a square wave that propagates in one direction, as this product claims to do, or in something like a 120-degree spread like many normal speakers do. Going to a water analogy, a wave pool is an example of a device that transmits a water wave in one direction. Conversely, if you drop a rock into the pool the wave will propagate in all 360 degrees. The shape of the wave is (pretty much) the same in both cases, but the direction of propagation is different. The author of the article really should have used different terminology.
This was tried by a couple of companies before. I remember a company called ATC advertising this about 10 years ago. Those who heard the prototypes reported low level sounds comparable in quality to AM radio transmission (thus female voice for demo and not full range music). Like someone said before- it's ultrasonic beams that produce intermodulation that lies in the audible spectrum.
the technology is there,
if people want it, people will get it.
if people want it but they feel that AQ is inadequate, they can easily improve the technology
mainstream products are alot different when compared to prototype
the technology is there, if people want it, people will get it.if people want it but they feel that AQ is inadequate, they can easily improve the technologymainstream products are alot different when compared to prototype
Amen to that.
I'm sure if we put a lot of serious effort and funds into this, we could actually get something decent.
I'd imagine these could be great for low cost setups.
Hell, how about the hood to my jacket is my speaker? With a more directed sound wave, also have less people listening to my music. Seems nice to me, since I can't comfrtably wear ear buds (and headphones can be too bulky and fragile to travel with).
Maybe have a 3-4" flexible screen on the inside of my jacket with a embedded 2GB memory chip.
Regardless, nice to see this. Hope we find great applications for this, as it'd be a waste to let this dissapear frm the market.
but when do we get our rocket scooters, come on Yamaha, tell us that
Does everyone can hear the Mona Lisa say "Hey sailor boy, you want some?" when you pass in front of her, or is it just me?
pmsl
UGH!!!!!! I can see it now... Walking down the center of a popular street and not only being assaulted by Ads EVERYWHERE but now they will all SCREAM at you and as you increase your walking speed the voices that are now talking to you rapidly change depending on what ad you are in front of...
STOP THE VOICES!