Seeker of Truth
05-28-2003, 07:02 PM
HyperSonic Sound Hailed As Wave of Future
By KEVIN MANEY
USA TODAY
Rarely is an invention so unique and so simple that in 15 seconds most people who experience it realize it could alter everyday life. But that's what happens to just about anyone who steps out to the back parking lot of American Technology Corp. (ATC) in San Diego for a demonstration of its invention called HyperSonic Sound (HSS).
Essentially, HSS does for sound what the laser did for light — intensely focuses and channels it so it can travel great distances without dispersing. In the usual HSS demo, a technician points a cereal box-size speaker at someone standing on the asphalt 100 yards away. Amid the din of the nearby freeway, the technician plays a recording of the sound of ice cubes clinking into a glass.
To the listener, the sound comes across as if it were through headphones. The effect is totally unlike a sound blaring from a distant speaker over oppressive car noise. Take two steps to the side, out of the sound beam, and you hear nothing at all. Step back in, and there it is again.
"It offers huge benefits over your standard speaker systems," says Sony executive Simon Beesley, who is working on building HSS into sound systems for commercial settings, such as stores or restaurants.
Though the technology is several years from becoming mainstream, HSS could be used to make laptop speakers that blare music to the person in front of the screen, while no one else could hear it.
More @ elpasotimes.com (http://cgi.elpasotimes.com/cgi-bin/techwrapper.pl?URL=http://www.gannettonline.com/e/trends/18000905.html&AFFIL=EPT)
By KEVIN MANEY
USA TODAY
Rarely is an invention so unique and so simple that in 15 seconds most people who experience it realize it could alter everyday life. But that's what happens to just about anyone who steps out to the back parking lot of American Technology Corp. (ATC) in San Diego for a demonstration of its invention called HyperSonic Sound (HSS).
Essentially, HSS does for sound what the laser did for light — intensely focuses and channels it so it can travel great distances without dispersing. In the usual HSS demo, a technician points a cereal box-size speaker at someone standing on the asphalt 100 yards away. Amid the din of the nearby freeway, the technician plays a recording of the sound of ice cubes clinking into a glass.
To the listener, the sound comes across as if it were through headphones. The effect is totally unlike a sound blaring from a distant speaker over oppressive car noise. Take two steps to the side, out of the sound beam, and you hear nothing at all. Step back in, and there it is again.
"It offers huge benefits over your standard speaker systems," says Sony executive Simon Beesley, who is working on building HSS into sound systems for commercial settings, such as stores or restaurants.
Though the technology is several years from becoming mainstream, HSS could be used to make laptop speakers that blare music to the person in front of the screen, while no one else could hear it.
More @ elpasotimes.com (http://cgi.elpasotimes.com/cgi-bin/techwrapper.pl?URL=http://www.gannettonline.com/e/trends/18000905.html&AFFIL=EPT)