Here’s a terrific little pice of new tech. The boffins at Emo Labs – and no, they don’t spend their days listening to angst-ridden music and cutting themselves with razor blades – has created a see-through flat film that produces sound. Yes, invisible speakers, using the company’s Edge Motion product.
Emo Labs says its Edge Motion speaker system uses two piezo actuators – tiny devices that create fine vibrations – on either side of the transparent panel. The panel is mounted on flat screens and then clamped in the middle for a stereo effect.
“Instead of pushing from behind, like a traditional cone speaker does, the speakers actuate a thin membrane along the side in a manner that creates an extremely efficient, piston-like motion in front.”
This creates vibrations from the flat transparent panel, which does not appear to interfere with the screen quality.
The US-based firm is in talks with major electronics makers interested in layering its “Invisible Speaker System” on flat panel TVs to turn screens into giant speakers, Emo chief executive Jason Carlson said.
Candidate devices for the speaker tech are:
- Flat panel monitors
- Televisions
- Laptop computers
- Digital photo frames
- Gaming consoles
- PDAs
- Portable DVD players
- GPS units
- Automotive applications
