BBC Knowledge April 2017

U LT R A -

PERSONAL

AUDIO SYSTEM

French company Akoustic Arts has developed

a directional loudspeaker called A that only one person

can hear at a time – without needing headphones.

A works by transposing sound frequencies, shifting

audible sound into the ultrasonic realm. The resulting

ultrasonic signal is then fired out like a laser beam from

the A, at which point the signal will transpose itself back

into audible sound but, crucially, retain its ultra-directional

nature. The result is a speaker that lets you listen to loud

music without disturbing those around you.

A smashed its Indiegogo funding target last year,

but there’s no word on a release date – though as the

product was on show at CES, it’s presumably not far off.

We’re quite excited, as we’ll no longer have to suffer

our colleagues’ definition of music.

Imagine being able to charge your laptop, phone or tablet from

a distance. That’s the promise offered by WiTricity, a new wireless

charging technology developed by two professors at MIT.

WiTricity uses a technique the professors first demonstrated

in 2007, which makes use of natural resonant frequencies.

This is the phenomenon whereby a wine glass will shatter

if an opera singer hits a certain note, because objects resonating

at their natural frequency can take in much more energy.

Since it uses a power source and capture device with similar

natural frequencies, WiTricity’s system enables faster, more

efficient power transfer over greater distances than existing

wireless charging systems that rely on electromagnetic induction

alone. There’s no word yet as to when WiTricity might be available

as a consumer product, but Dell has already announced that

its next generation of laptops will support the tech, and other

manufacturers are expected to follow suit.

WIRELESS POWER

AT A DISTANCE

KEEP

T H E N O I S E

DOWN

| CES 2017

INNOVATIONS

22 28 April 2017April 2017