We've already heard first-hand how Yamaha can make surround sound emerge from a single soundbar, and now the outfit's wowing again here at CEATEC. It's latest aural innovation was tucked quietly away within its booth, disguised as an advertorial for the show itself. Essentially, the banner you're peering at above is a one millimeter thick speaker that's made from cloth, and it definitely has the potential to revolution billboards and possibly even portable media devices. As you can clearly hear in the video just past the break, the flat sound waves emitted from the cloth cannot be heard unless you're standing directly in front of it; even separate audio files playing back just a few feet away didn't overlap with what we heard coming directly at us. There's no telling if Yamaha will ever take this public, but if it does, there are about forty billion ad agencies in the greater New York area that would like to speak to it.
Actually, Americans are some of the hardest working people in the entire world. Literally (go look at studies of how much people work). Yes, Japanese workers are often insane but overall we're not all that lazy at all compared to pretty much anybody except the Japanese, and even then the Japanese aren't really better at working than us overall because women are often not in the workforce or very very underemployed in low end jobs. So the US is actually pretty good for not being lazy-most people work a whole extra day per week in the US compared to places like Spain or even China (although work hours vary greatly in China whereas in Spain where it's almost impossible to work past thirtysomething hours a week). If we have problems it's mostly that our workforce has lost it's edge in particular fields, not that we're lazy. Maybe telling kids to just study whatever they feel like in college didn't work out so well since those English lit majors aren't really very useful in pushing the boundaries of science or technology. But hey, I'm sure they're probably working as advertising people by now so they'll know how to plaster this cloth all over the place. Seriously though, most people around the world aren't any more hard working than we are, it just seems that way because the hardest working and most innovative people from elsewhere stand out a lot more than the lazy people. So you hear stories about the hard working Chinese innovator or entrepreneur, not the lazy dude who works 4 days a week at a bowling alley.
For people that don't believe in aliens or extraterrestrials, you just need to go to Japan ... A friends told me that Chinese and Japanese come from outer space. I know it sounds stupid, I actually don't believe it, but when you see what these people do the only thing you can say is "Wow" or "How?".
I know they are very smart Americans, Europeans, Latinos, Arabs, and other races and nationalities, but where I have seen more "innovation" (things that look from a science fiction book - even if they are not really functional or practical ) is form Japan. We have to also note that the Chinese were the greatest investors of the pre-information age.
The mysteries of the Universe *** plays Space Odyssey music ***
PS: There is no water on the moon ! Sorry, Aquafina, your Moonfresh Brand ain't gonna work out now...
As an American who has lived in Japan...I would say that the reason why other nationalities are not as innovative is that, for the most part WE ARE LAZY. Yes, Americans are very lazy (comparatively). Japanese and Chinese are quick to capitalize on new ideas and make them reality...and the average asian works twice as hard, if not more (without complaining too) on a daily basis. Go to Japan yourself and see what the lifestyle of a 'salary man' is like...or even an elementary student. I am not saying they all are hard workers. There are a lot of spoiled girls there (guys too I suppose), who cant even boil water to make instant soup...but on average they make us look like a bunch of spoiled whiners who are too concerned about ourselves.
Japanese seem to be good at copying and enhancing something already exists... I think they lack of invention.... they simply base on one existing technology improve it such as making smaller, thinner or more convenient for the users etc....
Geez, you need to read. Quote: "I know it sounds stupid, I actually don't believe it"
All I am saying is that Japanese people made it seems that everything that seems impossible or science-fictiony can be done and it is being done.
Robots, chips, computers, cellphones, etc.
SO, my point is that their inventions make people think or believe they may be out-of-this-world (world: regular Average Joe people) - maybe I was too literally in the post.
"WOW!!!! That look out of this world !! What is next spaceship and space travel????????????"
I just love lumping all people of one ethnicity together into one big stereotype. ;]
There's quite a lot of innovation that comes out of Japan, yes... but there's quite a bit that comes out of the United States and the countries of Europe, as well (well... some). There are innovative, inventive, and creative people in every country... so the argument is ridiculous. We've had functional robots in this country for many years... we've created a multitude of spaceships, automobiles and a plethora of electronics. Sure, there are lazy people in this country, but there are plenty of hardworking, intelligent and innovative Americans in this country. What's interesting is that we actually only have one competitive (not really) television manufacturer in the states these days - Vizio. Doesn't mean we don't have plenty of R&D firms, such as Sony of America, etc. You forget that many of these corporations are international these days, and employ thousands of people from around the world.
You could use this to listen to music while your roommate is sleeping or studying for his exams. Or play video games at an arcade without being distracted by the sound/music of the adjacent game. You could also watch TV in a hospital bed while the neighboring person gets their needed rest.
@mark: uh, because your shirt doesn't go directly over your ears, meaning you won't hear the highly directional noise. At all.
Your hat (assuming an over-the-ears winter hat, of course) would be the perfect application for this, though! Especially one of those sweet flap-eared hats.
The difference between Japan and America is viewpoints on nostalgia. AMERICANS generally like their day to day life to be like how they grew up. They consider simple things they enjoyed as children and teens as things that are important as adults. They also like to stick to things they already learned. As well as buying things PURELY based on image and status. Americans would rather buy a combustable engine (ancient piece of crap style engine) car because of status symbol alone. While a average Japanese person would rather seek things to enhance their life, not live in the past. No time to relish in the past if you have no future. Thats how they view things. World War 2 was a wake up call for them and they been trying to live in the future ever since.
Traditionalism and nostalgia should only be taken in extremely small doses. They should not be a way of life. I am looking at YOU Americans!
Right... Americans want to live in the past... You apparently have no idea what you're talking about. Americans are some of the first ones to buy up this type of shit.
It's not the technology we want to look to the past for... though we respect the innovations of the past, b/c we've had some brilliant accomplishments... it's the principles and values we try to remember, since many of those are being lost to today's generations.
Nice! The Japanese have actually recreated something that I was buying almost 30 years ago from this company. www.polyplanar.com
Poly Planar now seems to specialize in marine application sound systems. Long ago, in the 80's they used to manufacture flat (about 1 inch thick) speakers made out of Styrofoam. I had bought a 3 way speaker made of Styrofoam rated at about 50watts. This speaker could pump out some serious sound in all frequency ranges as it had 3 concentric rings on it for each freq range, and was practically impervious to the elements. The shape of the speaker was a large, about 20" x 30" rectangle. I used to throw it into the pool and submerge it to get sound underwater.
Anyway, one very interesting characteristic of this speaker was it was very omnidirectional. If you were parallel to the plane of the speaker, the volume level was about 1/4th of what you would get standing in front of it. Another really cool thing was, it put out as much sound behind it as it did in front.
The actual sound radiating surface was about a 1/4 inch flat sheet of styrofoam and the outer frame was also completely styrofoam except much denser and thicker/stronger.
Amina used to make NXT-based hanging panel speakers - not cloth but similar in application to this although again, it was omnidirectional rather than this new tech. All that is on their site now seems to be speakers you plaster into your wall.
I would think that this technology could go beyond the billboard that is being talked about in the article. One main use would be computers, especially laptop computers and desktop LCD monitors. This would allow the computers to have the sound more focused towards the end users rather than spilling out and around. As well, if the sound quality approaches "studio standard", recording / broadcast studios and film / TV dubbing stages could benefit from the idea of keeping the sound focused over the mixing desk, thus achieving a proper soundstage while integrating the speakers in to LCD or OLED screens.
I'm pretty sure this technology will be further researched for military use. This can be developed into something that can have long unidirectional range. But to break the laws of real science, can you imagine a nation declaring war onto an enemy leader as they sit on the can enjoying the peace?
The previously displayed vibrating clear film speakers seem to have much more potential especially with electronics as they are designed to go right over the screen. The uses for an opaque fabric which emits sound are much more limited.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
posted Oct 9th 2009 8:16PM
Kick ass!
The walls have speakers.
Next Up: X.1 Surround Sound. Drywall with built-in speakers, THAT would be awesome.
Wow this would go great with my wall sized TV depicted in Fahrenheit 451.
wow that is insane.
Get ready for a noisy future.
noisy curtains
Actually, Americans are some of the hardest working people in the entire world. Literally (go look at studies of how much people work). Yes, Japanese workers are often insane but overall we're not all that lazy at all compared to pretty much anybody except the Japanese, and even then the Japanese aren't really better at working than us overall because women are often not in the workforce or very very underemployed in low end jobs.
So the US is actually pretty good for not being lazy-most people work a whole extra day per week in the US compared to places like Spain or even China (although work hours vary greatly in China whereas in Spain where it's almost impossible to work past thirtysomething hours a week). If we have problems it's mostly that our workforce has lost it's edge in particular fields, not that we're lazy. Maybe telling kids to just study whatever they feel like in college didn't work out so well since those English lit majors aren't really very useful in pushing the boundaries of science or technology. But hey, I'm sure they're probably working as advertising people by now so they'll know how to plaster this cloth all over the place.
Seriously though, most people around the world aren't any more hard working than we are, it just seems that way because the hardest working and most innovative people from elsewhere stand out a lot more than the lazy people. So you hear stories about the hard working Chinese innovator or entrepreneur, not the lazy dude who works 4 days a week at a bowling alley.
For people that don't believe in aliens or extraterrestrials, you just need to go to Japan ... A friends told me that Chinese and Japanese come from outer space. I know it sounds stupid, I actually don't believe it, but when you see what these people do the only thing you can say is "Wow" or "How?".
I know they are very smart Americans, Europeans, Latinos, Arabs, and other races and nationalities, but where I have seen more "innovation" (things that look from a science fiction book - even if they are not really functional or practical ) is form Japan. We have to also note that the Chinese were the greatest investors of the pre-information age.
The mysteries of the Universe *** plays Space Odyssey music ***
PS: There is no water on the moon ! Sorry, Aquafina, your Moonfresh Brand ain't gonna work out now...
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090923-moon-water-discovery.html
Just how high are you?
As an American who has lived in Japan...I would say that the reason why other nationalities are not as innovative is that, for the most part WE ARE LAZY. Yes, Americans are very lazy (comparatively). Japanese and Chinese are quick to capitalize on new ideas and make them reality...and the average asian works twice as hard, if not more (without complaining too) on a daily basis.
Go to Japan yourself and see what the lifestyle of a 'salary man' is like...or even an elementary student.
I am not saying they all are hard workers. There are a lot of spoiled girls there (guys too I suppose), who cant even boil water to make instant soup...but on average they make us look like a bunch of spoiled whiners who are too concerned about ourselves.
Sorry, they are not aliens.
Japanese seem to be good at copying and enhancing something already exists... I think they lack of invention.... they simply base on one existing technology improve it such as making smaller, thinner or more convenient for the users etc....
wtf little idiot town are you from? Aliens? Go outside for christ's sake.
Geez, you need to read. Quote: "I know it sounds stupid, I actually don't believe it"
All I am saying is that Japanese people made it seems that everything that seems impossible or science-fictiony can be done and it is being done.
Robots, chips, computers, cellphones, etc.
SO, my point is that their inventions make people think or believe they may be out-of-this-world (world: regular Average Joe people) - maybe I was too literally in the post.
"WOW!!!! That look out of this world !! What is next spaceship and space travel????????????"
There you go.
First of all, China and Japan are totally different. It's like comparing the USA to Brazil, yeah they're both in America.
ketyung: The Japanese copying and enhancing? What the hell are you talking about?
Japan is one of the most (if not the most) innovating country on earth considering technology.
Sony, Nikon, Nintendo, Canon... Yeah, those companies are really copying products from other countries.
Check out their humanoid robots and all.
I just love lumping all people of one ethnicity together into one big stereotype. ;]
There's quite a lot of innovation that comes out of Japan, yes... but there's quite a bit that comes out of the United States and the countries of Europe, as well (well... some). There are innovative, inventive, and creative people in every country... so the argument is ridiculous. We've had functional robots in this country for many years... we've created a multitude of spaceships, automobiles and a plethora of electronics. Sure, there are lazy people in this country, but there are plenty of hardworking, intelligent and innovative Americans in this country. What's interesting is that we actually only have one competitive (not really) television manufacturer in the states these days - Vizio. Doesn't mean we don't have plenty of R&D firms, such as Sony of America, etc. You forget that many of these corporations are international these days, and employ thousands of people from around the world.
Wow. i think the next 5 years in technology are going to be interesting.
DIdn't they have these damned annoying ad panels in Minority Report?
Sure but even those you could hear when you walked away if I remember correctly.
Seems kinda pointless... only use I can see of this is if you put this on the wall around a OLED TV.
You could use this to listen to music while your roommate is sleeping or studying for his exams.
Or play video games at an arcade without being distracted by the sound/music of the adjacent game.
You could also watch TV in a hospital bed while the neighboring person gets their needed rest.
Many, many uses!
agreed
Turn your hat into headphones.
i see that in the near future my friend...
What do you mean your hat? Why not your shirt, snowboarding jacket (okay, that was so five years ago), etc.
Or if you want to be perverse, make a retrofit for speaker grilles.
@mark: uh, because your shirt doesn't go directly over your ears, meaning you won't hear the highly directional noise. At all.
Your hat (assuming an over-the-ears winter hat, of course) would be the perfect application for this, though! Especially one of those sweet flap-eared hats.
Now this is innovation.
freshmens' wet dream!
The difference between Japan and America is viewpoints on nostalgia. AMERICANS generally like their day to day life to be like how they grew up. They consider simple things they enjoyed as children and teens as things that are important as adults. They also like to stick to things they already learned. As well as buying things PURELY based on image and status. Americans would rather buy a combustable engine (ancient piece of crap style engine) car because of status symbol alone. While a average Japanese person would rather seek things to enhance their life, not live in the past. No time to relish in the past if you have no future. Thats how they view things. World War 2 was a wake up call for them and they been trying to live in the future ever since.
Traditionalism and nostalgia should only be taken in extremely small doses. They should not be a way of life. I am looking at YOU Americans!
You're looking at me through the computer screen?
Now who's living in the future.
Right... Americans want to live in the past... You apparently have no idea what you're talking about. Americans are some of the first ones to buy up this type of shit.
It's not the technology we want to look to the past for... though we respect the innovations of the past, b/c we've had some brilliant accomplishments... it's the principles and values we try to remember, since many of those are being lost to today's generations.
Er 'revolution' isn't a verb. You can use 'revolutionise' ('revolutionize' if you're American). Don't you guys proofread?
in the Underworld? Aux enfers?
(Love the Can Can part) :D
Nice! The Japanese have actually recreated something that I was buying almost 30 years ago from this company. www.polyplanar.com
Poly Planar now seems to specialize in marine application sound systems. Long ago, in the 80's they used to manufacture flat (about 1 inch thick) speakers made out of Styrofoam. I had bought a 3 way speaker made of Styrofoam rated at about 50watts. This speaker could pump out some serious sound in all frequency ranges as it had 3 concentric rings on it for each freq range, and was practically impervious to the elements. The shape of the speaker was a large, about 20" x 30" rectangle. I used to throw it into the pool and submerge it to get sound underwater.
Anyway, one very interesting characteristic of this speaker was it was very omnidirectional. If you were parallel to the plane of the speaker, the volume level was about 1/4th of what you would get standing in front of it. Another really cool thing was, it put out as much sound behind it as it did in front.
The actual sound radiating surface was about a 1/4 inch flat sheet of styrofoam and the outer frame was also completely styrofoam except much denser and thicker/stronger.
Correction, not OMNIdirectional, unidirectional. Fingers type faster than brain.
Styrofoam...rigid...6mm
Cloth...foldable...1mm
Amina used to make NXT-based hanging panel speakers - not cloth but similar in application to this although again, it was omnidirectional rather than this new tech. All that is on their site now seems to be speakers you plaster into your wall.
I would think that this technology could go beyond the billboard that is being talked about in the article. One main use would be computers, especially laptop computers and desktop LCD monitors. This would allow the computers to have the sound more focused towards the end users rather than spilling out and around. As well, if the sound quality approaches "studio standard", recording / broadcast studios and film / TV dubbing stages could benefit from the idea of keeping the sound focused over the mixing desk, thus achieving a proper soundstage while integrating the speakers in to LCD or OLED screens.
With regards
Simon Mackay
http://homenetworking01.info
I'm pretty sure this technology will be further researched for military use. This can be developed into something that can have long unidirectional range. But to break the laws of real science, can you imagine a nation declaring war onto an enemy leader as they sit on the can enjoying the peace?
"…and now the outfit's wowing again here at CEATEC."
Is it weird that when I read that, I automatically thought of SETEC Astronomy from Sneakers? .>
On-topic: this would make for some AWESOME surround sound. Literally: panel your walls and ceiling with it, and presto!
The bad part about that would be, playing horror-genre video games — well, let's just say you wouldn't play them with the lights off ever again…
The previously displayed vibrating clear film speakers seem to have much more potential especially with electronics as they are designed to go right over the screen. The uses for an opaque fabric which emits sound are much more limited.
Wait, 48 comments about cloth speakers and no 'loud clothes' remark?!?
Take a smarmy pill...