'We essentially created a virtual headset': Scientists transmit inaudible sound using ultrasonic beams to create single person 'audio enclaves'

bulky headphones on black made using x rays

(Image credit: Jonathan Kitchen via Getty Images)

Sound is a very strange thing. An echo-prone room can be fixed with a single bit of foam in a corner. Noise can be 'cancelled' by playing a reversed sound wave back at your ears. And now a new study has found that you can transmit sound across a room, even bending it around obstacles, so it can only be heard by someone standing in a specific spot.

A team of researchers at Penn State College of Engineering have been fine-tuning a technology that allows them to create 'audible enclaves' using nonlinear self-bending ultrasonic beams (via Futurism). And if that's all gobbledygook to you, allow me to explain.

They're silent to human ears until the point where they're forced to intersect, at which point the difference in frequencies, say, one at 40,000 Hz and one at 39,500 Hz interacts to create a new sound wave equal to the difference between the two—in this example, an audible sound at 500 Hz.

Study co-author Jia-Xin Zhong continues: "We essentially created a virtual headset. Someone within an audible enclave can hear something meant only for them—enabling sound and quiet zones."

The effect is akin to someone throwing their voice, except instead of a creepy ventriloquist dummy as the recipient, it's you, perhaps standing in a museum looking at a painting and hearing a biography of the artist without interrupting other museum-goers.

More than that, however, the researchers say it's possible to use acoustic metasurfaces to bend sound in the same way that an optical lens bends light, meaning you could potentially manipulate these ultrasonic waves as they travel to avoid obstacles.

Perfect peripherals

Best gaming mouse: the top rodents for gaming
Best gaming keyboard: your PC's best friend...
Best gaming headset: don't ignore in-game audio

Unfortunately we're probably still a long way off from an actual virtual headset, as the current method requires some bulky equipment directly behind your head and can only throw sound to around three feet, which is a bit of a shame.

Still, perhaps one day in the not so distant future we'll be beaming sound across rooms at each other with everyone else blissfully unaware.

Or, y'know, we could just wear a good set of headphones. Curses, I've ruined it, haven't I? Still, cool tech does cool tech things. Why let practicality get in the way of a good invention, that's what I say.

Andy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12, when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn't—and he hasn't stopped since. Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, Andy spends his time jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows, all the while reviewing every bit of PC gaming hardware he can get his hands on. You name it, if it's interesting hardware he'll write words about it, with opinions and everything.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.