Hypersonic Sound by American Technology CORPORATION (also known as HSS)

Comparisons with other Directional Sound Relevant Technologies such as sound domes and sound arrays

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Technical advice and consulting for Audio Spotlight and Hypersonic Sound applications!

Audio Spotlight - The Solution to one of life's many challenges
Did you ever need to put sound into just one small area of an exhibit or display? Ever struggle to make an environment more effective, engaging and quieter by eliminating overlapping sounds? Enter the Audio Spotlight!

Current / Previous Solutions
The Audio Spotlight, manufactured by Holosonics, Watertown MA, is a relatively new product developed at MIT that allows the user to beam sound into very small area of an exhibit or display. The beam from an Audio Spotlight is just 18” to 24” across and can be projected several 100 feet. Until approximately 5 years ago, directional speakers such as sound dome products and steered arrays had been used to create zones of sound. However, the sound projected from a sound dome or array is regular sound, shaped to remain in a smaller area. Once this standard sound leaves the confines of the dome, it immediately wants to spread out to fill up all of the space surrounding the dome. The sound from these more widely known products is about 60% directional at most.

The ultra sound beam from an Audio Spotlight, instead wants to remain in a narrow beam, more like the beam of light from a spotlight. As a result, the Audio Spotlight enables the exhibit designer and builder the ability to add sounds into very small spaces and create narration or musical environments where previously this had not been practical. This beam of sound is somewhere between 90-95% directional.

Advantages of the Audio Spotlight
The purpose of using the Audio Spotlight is to create atmospheres of sound within an exhibit without the use of sound partitioning. The Audio Spotlight keeps an exhibit space quieter by eliminating overlapping areas of sound that make an exhibit louder, annoying and confusing.

Normally sounds add up within a space increasing the ambient noise level within that space. If an exhibit has 20 people talking loudly, the exhibit gets louder. Every sound within the exhibit spreads out to fill that and the surrounding space. Thus, in an area like a trade show, where there are many people interacting, live presentations, and music playing in the background, the environment gets loud and even annoying very quickly. All of the sounds add up to create a louder environment or higher sound level. Since the sounds created by the Audio Spoltight are not heard outside the beam, many Audio Spotlights can be used in the same exhibit space without making that exhibit space any louder.

System Components
The Audio Spotlight equipment consists of a transducer (speaker), amplifier and coax cable connecting the two. Standard sound devices are used to create the source signal, such as DVD, CD or computers. The short wavelengths contained in the ultrasound beams, make the beam perform more like one of light than sound, so the sound projects straight from the transducer without spreading out to fill the room. To produce this beam of sound, the whole system must be used (amplifier, coax cable and transducer). The beam of sound is actually so focused that it will reflect off a hard surface, like a beam of light coming from a mirror.

Real Life Applications Several companies have integrated this technology into their trade show exhibits during the last 4 years. Recently, Master Brands, a cabinet maker from Jasper, Indiana added this technology to improve their presentation at the Homebuilder’s show (Booth 5040, Las Vegas Convention Center, January 18-21).. Master Brands wanted to drive home their company motto and make their exhibit more user friendly by adding narration about different product lines to various areas of their display. With the help of their exhibit builder, Czarnowski, the products distributor Exhibit and Display Consultants in Providence RI and Muse Presentation Technologies in Santa Ana CA, 12 zones of sound were created in various areas within the exhibit.

History of Installations
The first Audio Spotlight was installed at Joypolis, Sega’s amusement park in Tokyo Japan more than five years ago. Audio Spotlights have been installed at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (French National Library) and ACMI at Federation Square in Melbourne Australia for almost four years. In addition there are Audio Spotlights installed in several museums around the US, and even a retail store. This technology is proven and really works!

Future Applications
Several of the automobile and electronics manufacturers around the world are currently experimenting with the Audio Spotlight. Imagine everyone being able to listen to a different radio station in each seat of the car during your next outing with the family or being able to watch TV late at night next to your spouse, without them hearing the audio part of the broadcast! Make no mistake, this is a world changing product, that is available now. The Audio Spotlight will help solve a problem that as exhibit builders and designers we have struggled with for a long time.

Transducer (Speaker) Positioning
In the Master Brands booth, 12 Audio Spotlight transducers (speakers) were mounted very discreetly on poles 14’ above the ground. For the maximum volume (sound level) that trade show use demands, it is recommended that the Audio Spotlight speaker, more accurately called a transducer, is mounted no more than 3 meters from the average listeners ears, or 15’ in the air. The mounting hardware is constructed with a ball joint so that the Audio Spotlights are easily aimed wherever the sound is desired.

Transducer
The Audio Spotlight transducer is very discreet, at only ½” thick. The transducers come in two standard sizes 18” round or 24” hexagonal. The cover of the Audio Spotlight is produced using sublimation printable lycra. For an additional fee, this lycra cover can be printed to look like anything that we can take a digital picture of, making integration into an existing display or trade show environment even easier. This lycra cover can be produced with an elastic edge so that it is easily interchangeable. The transducer emits an ultrasound beam. There is no light involved, so there is now way to know that you are stepping into the beam of sound, unless the exhibit builder integrates a sign or signal into the environment.

Amplifier
The transducers are driven by a small ultrasound amplifier 6.75” W x 2.28” H x 11” D. The amplifier receives the input signal from a standard audio source such as a computer, CD player or DVD. The amplifier can currently push the sound signal through a cable 110’ long without any in-line signal amplification. Developments are currently being tested which will extend that distance a great deal. The amplifier runs on standard 110V or 220V power and is very easily adaptable to European or Asian versions of electrical power.

Master Brands used audio tracks which consisted of 30 second narrative loops. However, the sound track can include either narration or music or a combination of both. As noted below, professional production of the sound track is recommended.

Sound Track Production / Product Audio Performance
The Audio Spotlight does not currently reproduce bass below 350 Hz well. As a result, the audio track is produced – equalized and mixed to eliminate most of these tones. To create a more dynamic acoustic environment, the low tones can be added back into the space with a subwoofer. Of course the sounds from a subwoofer will not be directional, but luckily, bass heard by itself is very non-descript and thus, non-obtrusive. We have found that subwoofers are a non-distracting way to add the low tones back into the space without unnecessarily increasing the sound level or potential for audio related distraction.

We have sources around the country that can produce the Audio Spotlight soundtracks for as little as $300 / finished minute. At such reasonable rates professional sound production is recommended.

Where can I get the Audio Spotlight?
The Audio Spotlight is sold and supported by Exhibit & Display Consultants - Please call us at 401-273-5372 or write us with any technical questions or for more product information.

There are 24 Audio Spotlights currently available for rental from Muse Presentation Technologies – www.museprestech.com or call us for more information.

Audio Spotlights by Exhibit and Display Consultants Inc • PO Box 6625 • Providence RI 02940 • 508-695-0544
Contact Us - www.exhibitconsultants.com

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