Sound beaming technology, what is this?

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Sound beaming technology, what is this?

2020-11-14 13:12:33

Quote

That's the possibility presented by “sound beaming,” a new futuristic audio technology from Noveto Systems, an Israeli company On Friday it will debut a desktop device that beams sound directly to a listener without the need for headphones.

~ https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2020/11/13/sound-beaming-tech-3d-audio/

Quote

Imagine a world where you move around in your own personal sound bubble. You listen to your favorite tunes, play loud computer games, watch a movie or get navigation directions in your car — all without disturbing those around you.

~ https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9483846/soundbeamer-music-in-your-head-no-headphones/

Re: Sound beaming technology, what is this?

Reply #1 – 2020-11-14 13:36:34

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_from_ultrasound

Hardly new, not that facts ever mattered much when marketing. It uses ultrasound at an intensity great enough for air to behave nonlinearly, transmitted from a phased array so it can track your ears.

Re: Sound beaming technology, what is this?

Reply #2 – 2020-11-14 15:12:22

I vaguely remember an article about a company (Marantz?) doing something similar in the early Nineties. Something about using it in museums and galleries, so you didn't need to have a headset for the audio guidebook.

Re: Sound beaming technology, what is this?

Reply #3 – 2020-11-15 04:21:18

I think this get tried every 10 years or so, but it never seems to produce a practical device. Presumably the (highly nonlinear) downconversion of ultrasound to regular acoustic frequencies doesn't lend itself to high audio quality.

Re: Sound beaming technology, what is this?

Reply #4 – 2020-11-17 18:30:11

I've just been using an Aeropex from Aftershokz bone conduction headset at work, which would cover most or all individual consumer-based usage (i.e. not in public places like museums, etc.). Seems like a FAR simpler solution and a lot more versatile and I'll bet quite a lot less expensive. I even use it in the shower sometimes. I like it so much (except mic quality - I think it might be using the old narrowband Bluetooth HFP) that I bought another one just to keep in my work bag.

This sound beaming thing looks to be extremely convoluted for such a mundane thing you can mostly do by other means. I'll deal with a head-tracking rig for something for which other stuff is not feasible, like the Realiser A16.

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