There's been a lot of people thinking about this concept for a while but now they're a reality thanks to the fine people at Klipsh. The system seems pretty cool except that it's only 2 speakers, for now, and they're very expensive at $599. Of course it's worth it if they sound as good or better than other home speakers.
Just a couple of months ago I posted THESE amazing flat speakers coming out of Taiwan. And now I see these that were actually published even earlier. I think the ones from Taiwan will actually sound better though but still these are amazing!
A groundbreaking new loudspeaker, less than 0.25mm thick, has been developed by University of Warwick engineers, it's flat, flexible, could be hung on a wall like a picture, and its particular method of sound generation could make public announcements in places like passenger terminals clearer, crisper, and easier to hear.
Lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture, the speakers are slim and flexible: they could be concealed inside ceiling tiles or car interiors, or printed with a design and hung on the wall like a picture.
If you're slightly crazy like me, you've thought about the possibility of flat, flexible speakers and if you're even partially out there you've considered paper speakers. Well, our dreams our becoming a reality. Scientists in Taiwan have developed a flexible paper speaker by sandwiching paper and CNTs together.
”Aside from use in family, stereo, or automobile hi-fi equipment, it can also be used in earphones or for industrial antinoise purposes,” says Johnsee Lee, president of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), where the technology has been under development since 2006.
The device, named fleXpeaker, is basically a sandwich of paper and metal filled with an electroactive polymer that contracts and expands with an audio signal’s electric field.
”It’s soft [and can] easily fit in different curves,” says Ming-Daw Chen, division director of ITRI’s Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories. ”Therefore, the product customization can be done in diverse fields, such as art for public facilities, interior design,...costume accessories, and others.”
I doubt these will ever fully replace traditional cone speakers but for many applications these will hopefully become the standard. Read more about it >HERE<
I'm sure many of us have thought about the possibility of adding to our body's natural architecture. Well Australian artist known as Stelarc (Stelios Arcadious) actually does! Seen here is one of my personal favorites called simply Ear On Arm. The artist went through a series of surgeries to have a prosthetic ear implanted into his arm with a microphone that would send audio to the web. Yeah, really intense and just in the name of art. Think about the possibilities. Here's a brief explanation in the artists' own words.
I have always been intrigued about engineering a soft prosthesis using my own skin, as a permanent modification of the body architecture. The assumption being that if the body was altered it might mean adjusting its awareness. Engineering an alternate anatomical architecture, one that also performs telematically. Certainly what becomes important now is not merely the body's identity, but its connectivity- not its mobility or location, but its interface. In these projects and performances, a prosthesis is not seen as a sign of lack but rather as a symptom of excess. As technology proliferates and microminiaturizes it becomes biocompatible in both scale and substance and is incorporated as a component of the body. These prosthetic attachments and implants are not simply replacements for a part of the body that has been traumatized or has been amputated. These are prosthetic objects that augment the body's architecture, engineering extended operational systems of bodies and bits of bodies, spatially separated but electronically connected.
Definitely go to his site and learn about his other crazy projects such as 1/4 Scale Ear and Ping Body. Click > HERE <
Just as the title suggests these speakers are made of porcelain ceramic and handmade by the designer, Joey Roth. I like the concept of using ceramics for speaker design but I'm curious about how they sound. Also, the speakers themselves are nice but there's a disconnect in choices of form and material for the other components that make up this system. The boxy brushed aluminum interface and 2 part plywood stands are unresolved and are more of a distraction than a compliment to the speakers. Why can't the speakers be made to stand on their own and why do they need their own interface? Just focus on the speakers Joey!
I hope I never need hearing aids but now at least there are options to make my hearing as good or possibly better than before. Plus, I can have music right in my ears via external source- MP3 player, radio, etc... These are attched to your bone behind your ear via small titanium screws that sense vibrations. So, it's basically like dolphins' ears (which have some of the best sense of hearing in all of the animal kingdom by the way). Read more and get your nerd on > HERE<.
I didn't even know there was a video for this until just now. If I ever saw it as a young'n I don't remember and probably didn't even like it back then. This has become one of my favorite songs by Stevie though...too bad the sound quality sucks here because the mix and mastering on this is phenomenal.
Ok...I'd feel bad if you couldn't actually hear the song so I took the time to add this for you.
This is one of the best things I've seen in the past year. At first glance it just seems like some cool graphics and sound...fair enough. What's fascinating though is that every piece in this series was made using the Processing programming language. The project is curated by the design studio Universal Everything (which does some really nice stuff) and musician Freeform. This is only 2 short clips from the series. Here's an excerpt from the Advanced Beauty website:
"The films embrace unusual video making processes, the visual programming language Processing, high-end audio analysis and fluid dynamic simulations alongside intuitive responses in traditional cell animation. Each artist was given the same set of parameters to work within; to start, finish and exist within a white space, creating a seamless coherence, all sculptures sharing the same white environment."
WOW! Remember the cardboard sound cube I posted a while back? (here) Well this is a similar idea just waaaay better! This piece was an installation for 100% Design Tokyo and co-designed by two amazing firms from Amsterdam, Elastik Architecture and Mat Studio. Together these firms transformed a standard shipping container into a very unique and personal aural experience that is meant to be a blissful retreat in contrast to the turmoil of this high profile event in Tokyo.
This is amazing! It takes the idea of the DJ being the maestro to a whole new level. I don't know why there are no turntables though.? These pictures are of the Baby Grand Master. Yes, they this company also makes a Grand Master model! This will be my upgrade from the DJ desk I'm getting from Metro Farm (view post)
Get more info and view more pics at Gardner Post's website >HERE<
No, not the animals from Madagascar (and other places). I'm talking about this new music interface. Lemur is like a combination of Tenori-On, Monome and iPhone. Ok, maybe that's a bad description. But the retro-future interface is definitely inspired by Tron and Star Trek. From what I could see in a few short videos, this interface could add to the changing face of music for the better. It can basically do about 5zillion things. (but no more than that) Just go to JazzMutant's website to learn more. And watch the video below..and watch more of the ones on YouTube, you'll be sold on it instantly. You'll see that you can customize it to your liking, add more screens, control EQs, adjust sensitivity, make music on the fly, etcetera...It's DOPE and I want one...
I know, it's weird to post two advertising campaigns back to back (without getting paid for it) but I just found this and thought you should see..err, hear it for yourself. These were done by a Brazilian firm called DM9DDB for sound production company called Saxofunny.
Before I die I want to own at least one high-end turntable. (Technics 1200s are NOT high-end!) Of course I'll also own some of the portable turntables I really want by this point too. And maybe one or two of some old classic turntables I really want. But until those days come..we got pictures. You can see more stuff you can't afford at the company's website- Transrotor
This is one of the best concepts I've seen this year. I had some ideas a couple years ago for visualizing sound and sound waves but this isn't one of them so it's cool to see something done like this. I DO have a line of items coming out next year that will incorporate sound waves but nothing like this. This was designed & prototyped by Sounds Butter. Their other projects are also worth checking out.
Ikea pack furniture in it. Gehry has made furniture from it. Now architects are shaping spaces with it. Is there any limit to the creative re-use of corrugated cardboard? With its unique physical consistency, its decidedly axial strength, and its deadening acoustic absorption, corrugated cardboard has many inherent qualities. As such it was the perfect material for this particular sound installation:
Made from 720 half square sheets of 7mm thick corrugated cardboard, stacked in 360 layers, this cavernous sound space is set within a 2.5m cube. As a space for listening to and experiencing music, the initial concept for the design developed from the architect’s ambition to create a strong spatial intensity and a distinct internal atmosphere. With an irregular free-form interior set within a regular cubic volume, the object has a profound duality. Made from one material it also has an implied solidity that strengthens the architect’s distinction between inside and out – a distinction that is heightened when the full acoustic ambience is experienced from within.
Cutting the cardboard took three working days, and assembly just one. The structure sits under its own dead weight, without any fixings or glue. And, for those of a technical persuasion, a simple calculation reveals that the combined compression of the 360 layers of cardboard is 20mm over the 2.5m height, or an average of 500ths of a millimetre per sheet. All services are integrated within the stack, including cable runs and apertures for the six-speaker surround sound system.
*I wish I knew the names of the designers to give them credit for their work. This site on which I saw this rarely gives credit to the artists/designers. I asked why and they told me they do not make an effort to give credit to the artists because: " We're a trends agency - we don't give all our content away for free and we only put a limited of posts up - Most cases we do -but on larger posts we keep these for our paying customers
We'll soon be launching a section for those who want more high end content which you'll have to pay to access it
Thanks
Bill" Well Bill, this is a 'lifestyle' site too so I guess I don't have to them credit either.?
