Speakers

An innovative system is suggesting white noise from a smart speaker can monitor breathing and movement in sleeping babies. So far, the prototype device can detect infant respiratory rates with accuracy matching standard vital sign monitors.

Engineers from Duke University have developed a way to create acoustic “holograms” that promise to be as magical as visual holograms – all by placing an array of 3D-printed acoustic building blocks in front of a sound wave.

It's a classic situation ... a family is watching TV, but in order for the grandparents to be able to hear it, the volume is turned up too loud for everyone else. A student from the UK, however, might have a solution. He's developed a system that projects high-volume audio to just one spot.

Scientists at Harvard have built a flexible, transparent speaker out of ionic gel that produces high-quality sound ranging across the full audible spectrum. The device also provides a proof of concept for electronics that can transfer electric signals in a similar manner to the human nervous system.

Engineers in the UK have developed a loudspeaker that is so flat and flexible it can be hung like a picture anywhere.