Yamaha Displays 1mm-Thick Cloth Speaker

[Supertrek32]

[citation][nom]pocketdrummer[/nom]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.[/citation]
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.

 

[g00ey]

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.

 

[jdog2076]

[citation][nom]pocketdrummer[/nom]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.[/citation]
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.

 

[Compulsive1]

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.

 

[chyll2]

I seriously doubt that these speakers have adequate audio quality.

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

 

[anamaniac]

[citation][nom]chyll2[/nom]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[/citation]
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.

 

[xupaguy]

but when do we get our rocket scooters, come on Yamaha, tell us that

 

[zak_mckraken]

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?

 

[xupaguy]

pmsl

 

[nelson_nel]

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!