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Automotive Industry

An Audio Speaker For The Telematics Revolution - Audio divice can target small area - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Oct, 2000 by John McCormick

Standing in the courtyard of a hotel, I suddenly hear jazz music. I move a few steps to one side and the sound disappears. Then I move back to the spot and the music returns, quiet but distinct. Some 50 feet away Joe Pompei is holding a thin, round disc the size of a-large pizza. The front of the disc is pointing in my direction. When Pompei angles the disc away from me, the music is gone once again.

The disc is a prototype of the Audio Spotlight -- an invention of Pompei's, a 27-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research assistant. His idea is simple: Put sound exactly where you want it and nowhere else.

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"A loudspeaker is like a light bulb," he explains. "But the Audio Spotlight is like a laser."

The analogy is appropriate because Pompei's device allows sound to be focused on a precise location in space, whereas a conventional loudspeaker fills the entire space with sound. The concept caught the attention of the automotive industry, among several other parties.

As one of the sponsors of the MIT Media Lab where Pompei is developing the novel speaker system, DaimlerChrysler decided to integrate Audio Spotlight into one of its current concept vehicles, the Dodge MAXXcab. Four of Pompei's speakers are imbedded in the headliner: two for the front compartment, two for the rear.

According to Steve Buckley, electrical product innovation manager at DC, the idea is to create two distinct audio environments. The next step would be to create a unique sound zone for each passenger, he says.

"The variety of sound sources is only going to increase with the availability of voice-enabled navigation, e-mail, cell phones, video games and movies in your future vehicle," Buckley explains. Pompei's speaker system consists of a thin, circular transducer array and a specially designed signal processor and amplifier. The lightweight transducer is about 0.5 inches thick and nonmagnetic. The signal processor and amplifier are integrated into a system about the same size as a traditional audio amplifier and has similar power requirements. Unlike traditional speakers that transmit non-directed audible sound at wavelengths of several feet, the Audio Spotlight transmits millimeter-sized, ultrasonic waves, which form a very narrow beam of sound that becomes audible as it travels through the air.

In its current state, the system is not suitable for in-vehicle use because it has not been optimized for close-range listening. However, further development in transducer design will solve that problem, claims Pompei.

Automotive Industry

An Audio Speaker For The Telematics Revolution - Audio divice can target small area - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Oct, 2000 by John McCormick

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