Hypersonic Sound by American Technology CORPORATION
(also known as HSS)
Comparisons with other Directional Sound
Relevant Technologies such as sound domes and sound arrays
| |
Hypersonic Sound by American Technology CORPORATION (also known as HSS) |
Comparisons with other Directional Sound
Relevant Technologies such as sound domes and sound arrays |
Audio Spotlight installed at Walt
Disney's Epcot
G8 Summit to Exhibit Audio Spotlight Laser-like Sound System
Holosonics Releases Next Generation Audio
Spotlight System at 2004 C E S
Dr. Joseph Pompei wins Technology Review's
TR100 Top Young Innovators Award
Holosonics' Audio Spotlight Technology Installed
at the Smithsonian
Holosonics announces Audio SpotlightŪ Exhibit
at Boston's Museum of Science
Audio Spotlight installed at Chicago
Cultural Center
Audio Spotlight Sound
Beam Systems Installed in General Motors Display at Walt Disney's Epcot
Watertown, MA June 30, 2004
Holosonics, the world leader in directional acoustic technology, is pleased
to announce a new installation of its Audio Spotlight systems at Walt Disney's
Epcot Center. The Audio Spotlight, invented at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, is the first and only system in the world that creates high-quality
sound in narrow beams - much like the light from a flashlight. The patented
Audio Spotlight systems are installed in the Innoventions exhibit, which, according
to Disney, highlights "some of the newest time-saving and technological
wonders for our new millennium with products being used in the home and around
the world."
Within Innoventions, General Motors is exhibiting the Juno, a state-of-the-art
vehicle with a sound system consisting of four Audio Spotlight discs - one over
each seat. This unique technology allows each passenger in the vehicle to hear
their own sound - and no one else's. "The parents in the front seat aren't
distracted by the movies and video games in the back seat - each parent can
even choose what they want to hear," says Dr. F. Joseph Pompei, inventor
of the technology. "This application builds on knowledge we had during
our work with DaimlerChrysler beginning in 2001. The Audio Spotlight technology
has made great strides in the past few years, and General Motors deserves credit
for working hard to show off how far we've come."
The Audio Spotlight technology is also used in Innoventions to wow the crowd
with its unique focused acoustical beams - sound literally flies by the crowd's
faces, and travels around the room, often resulting in dropped-jaws and gasps
from the crowd.
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G8 Summit to Exhibit Audio Spotlight Laser-like
Sound System
Watertown, MA May 26, 2004
Holosonics has been selected to showcase its unique Audio Spotlight technology
at the G8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia, this June. Hosted by President George
W. Bush, the annual G8 Summit serves as a venue for world leaders from the United
States, France, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada to
discuss key issues affecting all nations. The leaders of several African and
Middle Eastern nations will also be attending, as well as the President of the
European Commission.
According to the G8 committee, companies were selected for their unique "creative
technology and innovations." Only about 25 companies were chosen to present
their innovations at this Summit, which, in addition to the world leaders, will
host over 3000 members of the international and domestic press. "We are
truly honored to be chosen as an example of old-fashioned American ingenuity
and business sense", says Dr. F. Joseph Pompei, the inventor of the technology,
and President of Holosonics, which bootstrapped itself to profitability purely
through product sales.
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Holosonics Releases Next Generation
Audio Spotlight System at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show
Watertown, MA January 8, 2004
Continuing to improve on the commercial success of the Audio Spotlight®
sound system, Holosonics has announced that its next-generation laser-like sound
system, with improved performance and lower cost, is now actively in production.
These new systems are being exhibited at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show
in Las Vegas alongside MIT Media Lab technology. “In recognizing our steadily
growing markets and manufacturing capacity, we’ve redesigned the system
to be more easily manufactured at a high scale – and at a lower cost.
The technology is now even more accessible to customers wanting to satisfy both
low and high-volume applications,” said Pompei.
Product Improvements - We've been making regular technical
improvements on the Audio Spotlight. The newer amp delivers a better sounding
signal, has much less fan noise, and is more robust in demanding environments.
We've also added some new circuitry for the signal processing that makes output
consistently higher, with more flexibility to program material. Setup and control
is also easier, as it's now very difficult to make the systems clip. Minor updates
to the transducer have been included, which result in better sound quality and
higher output.
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Dr. Joseph Pompei wins Technology
Review's TR100 Top Young Innovators Award for Audio Spotlight Directional Sound
Technology
Watertown, MA October 21, 2003
Dr. Pompei, former MIT researcher and founder of Holosonics, of Watertown, Mass.,
was named as one of the "World's Top Young Innovators" by Technology
Review for his invention of the Audio Spotlight® directional sound technology.
Nominated by Dr. Gordon Bell, an award-winning senior researcher at Microsoft
Corporation, the award recognizes those researchers under the age of 35 whose
innovative work in technology has a profound impact on today's world.
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Holosonics' Audio Spotlight
Technology Installed at the Smithsonian
Watertown, MA November 6, 2003
Holosonics is pleased to announce its recent installation of the Audio Spotlight®
directional sound technology in the most popular museum in the world. The installation,
designed by notable multimedia designer and artist Alan Stone, is in the National
Air and Space Museum's Centennial of Flight Exhibition, "The Wright Brothers
& The Invention of the Aerial Age", which celebrates 100 years of powered
flight. The recently opened exhibition at the Smithsonian includes the original
1903 Wright Flyer, and honors the technical achievements of Wilbur and Orville
Wright, as well as the worldwide impact of their pioneering work.
The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, with over 161,000 square feet
of exhibition floor space, is the most popular museum in the world, attracting
on average more than 9 million visitors each year. The Museum maintains the
largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world, and hundreds
of artifacts on display including the original Wright 1903 Flyer, the "Spirit
of St. Louis," Apollo 11 command module, and a Lunar rock sample that visitors
can touch. The museum continues to develop new exhibits to examine the impact
of air and space technology on science and society.
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Holosonics announces Audio Spotlight®
Exhibit at Boston's Museum of Science
Watertown, MA October 6, 2003
The extremely narrow beams of sound generated by the Audio Spotlight sound system
are featured in a unique exhibit that gives a glimpse of what the near-future
of television will hold. "We've built, in effect, a television system that
can offer three viewers completely different content simultaneously, and when
they're standing right next to each other," says Dr. F. Joseph Pompei,
the inventor of the system. The Audio Spotlight audio technology allows, for
the first time, sound to be controlled in the same ways we're used to controlling
light, providing several people in the same physical space radically different
audio content.
To demonstrate the technology, Professor Barry Vercoe, Dr. Pompei's research
advisor at MIT, conceived an artistic installation. As visitors approach the
exhibit, they see and hear a jazz quartet playing "Summertime", from
Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Three thin, light Audio Spotlight discs, mounted
on a wall above the display, are aimed at slightly different angles, each one
beaming the sound of a single soloist to adjacent listeners on the floor. A
special holographic video screen, developed by colleagues also at MIT, creates
a "directional video" display that changes its content depending on
the viewing angle. Combining these two technologies effectively creates a television
that can provide three completely distinct programs to three viewers at the
same time. Standing in one position allows you to see and hear only the trumpet
- taking one step over, the trumpet vanishes, and the vocalist alone appears.
Taking one more step eliminates all but the violin player. The quartet's rhythm
section is displayed on a traditional television set, and played through regular
loudspeakers, so it is seen and heard everywhere.
Dr. Pompei will also be speaking about his invention, and the exhibit, at the
Museum of Science's Technology Day on October 18th.
The mission of the Museum of Science is to stimulate interest in and further
understanding of science and technology and their importance for individuals
and society. Now over 170 years old, the Museum of Science is one of the world's
premiere science museums, attracting over 1.6 million people per year. The Museum
has remained on the cutting edge of science education by developing innovative
and interactive exhibits and programs that both entertain and educate.
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Audio Spotlight in Chicago
Dreams exhibition at Chicago Cultural Center September-November 2003
Chicago Dreams.org October 2, 2003
Chicago Dreams, a public art exhibition commissioned by the Chicago Cultural
Center is a four-wall, 8 projector muti-media presentation. 300-400 individuals
from all walks of life and aspects of society, and all of the diverse parts
of Chicago tell of their most memorable sleeping dreams. Eight ten-foot high
heads will be projected at one time onto the four walls of the gallery. When
viewers enter the room, they will see the eight heads and hear a general buzz
of conversation from the eight talking heads on overhead speakers. When one
dream teller is finished they will fade out and another will fade in to form
a continuous progression of images. When individuals walk around the room and
stand in front of one of the talking heads they will hear that particular head
speaking. Alan Stone has partnered with recent MIT graduate, Joe Pompei to incorporate
a groundbreaking audio technology, the Audio Spotlight, as an integrated component
of the installation experience. The audio spotlight allows sound to behave like
a beam of light. It can be directed to specific listeners and remain inaudible
to people nearby.
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Audio Spotlights by
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