ABSTRACT

Audio spot lighting is a very recent technology that creates

focused beams of sound similar to light beams coming out of a

flashlight. By ‘shining’ sound to one location, specific listeners can be

targeted with sound without others nearby hearing it. It uses a

combination of non-linear acoustics and some fancy mathematics. But it

is real and is fine to knock the socks of any conventional loud speaker.

This acoustic device comprises a speaker that fires inaudible ultrasound

pulses with very small wavelength which act in a manner very similar to

that of a narrow column. The ultra sound beam acts as an airborne

speaker and as the beam moves through the air gradual distortion takes

place in a predictable way due to the property of non-linearity of air. This

gives rise to audible components that can be accurately predicted and

precisely controlled. Joseph Pompei’s Holosonic Research Labs

invented the Audio Spotlight that is made of a sound processor, an

amplifier and the transducer. The American Technology Corporation

developed the HyperSonic Sound-based Directed Audio Sound

System. Both use ultrasound based solutions to beam sound into a

focused beam. Audio spotlight can be either directed at a particular

listener or to a point where it is reflected.

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The targeted or directed audio technology is going to a huge

commercial market in entertainment and consumer electronics and

technology developers are scrambling to tap in to the market. Being the

most recent and dramatic change in the way we perceive sound since

the invention of coil loud speaker, audio spot light technology can do

many miracles in various fields like Private messaging system, Home

theatre audio system, Navy and military applications, museum displays,

ventriloquist systems etc.

Thus audio spotlighting helps us to control where sound comes

from and where it goes!

INTRODUCTION

Hi-fi speakers range from piezoelectric tweeters to various kinds of

mid-range speakers and woofers which generally rely on circuits ant

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large enclosures to produce quality sound, whether it dynamic,

electrostatic or some other transducer – based design. Engine ers have

struggled for nearly a century to produce a speaker design with the ideal

20Hz – 20,000Hz capability of human hearing and also produce a

narrow beam of audible sound.

Audio spot lighting is a very recent technology that creates

focused beams of sound similar to light beams coming out of a flash

light. Specific listeners can be targeted with sound without others nearby

hearing it, i.e. to focus the sound into a coherent and highly directional

beam. It makes use of non-linearity property of air.

The Audio spotlight developed by American Technology

Corporation uses ultrasonic energy to create extremely narrow beams of

sound that behaves like beam of light. Audio spotlight exploits the

property of non-linearity of air. A device known as parametric array

employs the non-linearity of the air to create audible by products from

inaudible ultrasound, resulting in extremely directive and beam like

sound. This source can projected about an area much like a spotlight

and creates an actual specialized sound distant from a transducer. The

ultrasound column acts as a airborne speaker, and as the beam moves

through the air gradual distortion takes place in a predictable way. This

gives rise to audible components that can be accurately predicted

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and precisely controlled.

THEORY

The regular loudspeakers produce audible sound by directly moving

the air molecules. The audible portions of sound tend to spread out in

all directions from the point of origin. They do not travel as narrow

beams. In fact the beam angle of audible sound is very wide, just about 360

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degre es. This effectively means that the sound you hear will be propagated

through the air equally in all directions. Conventional loudspeakers

suffer from amplitude distortions, harmonic distortion, inter -

modulation distortion, phase distortion, crossover distortion, cone

resonance etc. Some aspects of their mechanical aspects are mass,

magnetic structure, enclosure design and cone construction.

In order to focus sound into a narrow beam, you need to maintain a

low beam angle that is dictated by wavelength. The smaller the

wavelength, less the beam angle and hence, the more focused the sound.

The beam angle also depends on the aperture size of the speaker. A large

loudspeaker will focus the sound over a smaller area. If the source

loudspeaker can be made several times bigger than the wavelength

of the sound transmitted, then a finely focused beam can be created. The

problem here is that this is not a very practical solution, thus the low beam

angle can be achieved only by making the wavelength smaller and this can

be achieved by making use of ultrasonic sound.

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FIG 1 :[Link] POMPEI AT THE MIT LAB. PROPAGATION OF SOUND BEAM
FROM AUDIO SPOTLIGHTING DEVICE.

TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

The technique of using a nonlinear interaction of high – frequency

waves to generate low– frequency waves was originally pioneered by

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researchers developing underwater sonar techniques in 1960’s. In 1975, an

article cited the nonlinear effects occurring in air. Over the next two

decades, several large companies including Panasonic and Ricoh attempted

to develop a loudspeaker using this principle. They were succes sful in

producing some sort of sound but with higher level of distortion

(>50%). In 1990s, Woody Norris a Radar Technician solved the

parametric problems of this technology.

Audio spotlighting works by emitting harmless high frequency

ultrasonic tones that human hear cannot hear. It uses ultrasonic energy to

create extremely narrow beams of sound that behave like beams of light.

Ultrasonic sound is that sound which have very small wavelength – in

the millimeter range. These tones make use of non-linearity property

of air to produce new tones that are within the range of human hearing

which results in audible sound. The sound is created indirectly in air by

down converting the ultrasonic energy into the frequency spectrum we can

hear.

In an audio spotlighting sound system there are no voice coils, cones

or enclosures. The result is ‘sound with a potential purity and fidelity

which we attained never before’. Sound quality is no longer tied to

speaker size. This sound system holds the promise of replacing

conventional speakers in homes, movie theaters and automobile –

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everywhere.

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FIG 2:
CONVENTIONAL SPEAKERS

FIG 3: AUDIO
SPOTLIGHTING

RANGE OF HEARING

The human ear is sensitive to frequencies ranging from 20 Hz to

20,000 Hz. If the Range of human hearing is expres sed as a percentage of

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shift from the lowest audible frequency to the highest it spans a range of

100,000 percent. No single loudspeaker element can operate efficiently over

such a wide range of frequencies. Using this technology it is possible to

design a perfect transducer which can work over a wide range of frequency

which is audible to human hear.

FIG 4: RANGE OF HEARING

WORKING

The original low frequency sound wave such as human speech or a

music is applied into an audio spotlight emitter device. This low frequency

signal is frequency modulated with ultrasonic frequencies ranging from 21

kHz to 28 kHz. The output of the modulator will be the modulated form

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of original sound wave. Since ultrasonic frequency is used the wavelength

of the combined signal will be in the order of few millimeters. Since

the wavelength is smaller the beam angle will be around 3 degree, as a

result the sound beam will be a narrow one with a small dispersion.

FIG 5: AUDIO S POTLIGHT EMITTER

While the frequency modulated signal travels through the air, the

nonlinearity Property of air comes into action which slightly changes the

sound wave. If there is a change in a sound wave, new sounds are formed

within the wave. Therefore if we know how the air affects the sound

waves, we can predict exactly what new frequencies (sounds) will be

added into the sound wave by the air itself. The new sound signal
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generated within the ultrasonic sound wave will be corresponding to the

original information signal with a frequency in the range of 20 Hz to 20

kHz will be produced within the ultrasonic sound wave. Since we cannot

hear the ultrasonic sound wave we only hear the new sounds that are

formed by non – linear action of the air. Thus in an audio spotlighting

there are no actual speakers that produces the sound but the ultrasonic

envelope acts as the airborne speaker.

FIG 6: DIRCTIVITY

The new sound produced virtually has no distortions as sociated

with it and faithful reproduction of sound is fre ed from bulky

enclosures. There are no woofers or crossovers. This technology is

similar in that you can direct the ultrasonic emitter towards a hard

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surface, a wall for instance and the listener perceives the sound as coming

from the spot on the wall. The listener does not perceive the sound as

emanating from the face of the transducer, but only form the

reflection of the wall. 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 e ars, or 5 meters 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.

FIG 7: COMPUTER SIMULATION OF SOUND BEAM

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BEAM DISPERSION

FIG 8: DISPERSION OF SOUND BEAM

Figure shows the dispersion of sound beam from an audio

spotlighting emitter. Even after traveling a distance of 10m the beam

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covers only an area of 3.2 meter square.

COMPONENT OF AUDIO SPOTLIGHTING SYSTEM

1. Power Supply.
2. Frequency oscillator.
3. Modulator.
4. Audio signal processor.
5. Microcontroller.
6. Ultrasonic amplifier.
7. Transducer.

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FIG9: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AN AUDIO SPOLIGHTING SYSTEM

1. Power Supply: Like all electronic systems, the audio spotlighting

system works off DC voltage. Ultrasonic amplifier requires 48V DC supply

for its working and low voltage for microcontroller unit and other process

management.

2. Frequency oscill ator: The frequency oscillator generates ultrasonic

frequency signals in the range of (21,000 Hz to 28,000 Hz) which is

required for the modulation of information signals.

3. Modulator: In order to convert the source signal material into

ultrasonic signal a modulation scheme is required which is achieved

through a modulator. In addition, error correction is needed to reduce

distortion without loss of efficiency. By using a DSB modulator the

modulation index can be reduced to decrease distortion.

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4. Audio signal processor: The audio signal is sent to electronic

signal processor circuit where equalization and distortion control are

performed in order to produce a good quality sound signal.

5. Microcontroll er: A dedicated microcontroller circuit takes care of

the functional management of the system. In the future version, it is

expected that the whole process like functional management,signal

process in g , double side band modulation and even switch mode power

supply would be effectively taken care of by a single embedded IC.

6. Ultrasonic Amplifier: High – efficiency ultrasonic power amplifiers

amplifies the frequency modulated wave in order to match the

impedance of the integrated transducers. So that the output of the emitter

will be more powerful and can cover more distance.

7. Transducer: It is 1.27 cm thick and 17” in diameter. It is

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capable of producing audibility up to 200 meters with better clarity of

sound. It has the ability of real time sound reproduction with zero lag. It

can be wall, overhead or flush mounted. These transducers are arranged in

form of an array called parametric array in order to propagate the

ultrasonic signals from the emitter and thereby to exploit the nonlinearity

property of air.

FIG10: PARAMETRIC LOUDSPEAKER

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MODES OF LISTENING

There are two modes of listening:

1. Direct Mode.
2. Projected Mode.

FIG.11:- DIRECT AUDIO AND PROJECTED AUDIO

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Direct Mode: Direct mode requires a clear line of approach from the

sound system unit to the point where the listener can hear the audio. To

restrict the audio in a specific area this method is appropriate.

Projected or Virtual mode: This mode requires an unbroken line of

approach from the emitter of audio spotlighting system, so the emitter is

pointed at the spot where the is to be heard. For this mode of operation the

sound beam from an emitter is made to reflect from a reflecting surface

such as a wall surface or a diffuser surface. A virtual sound source

creates an illusion of sound source that emanates from a surface or

direction where no physical loudspeaker is present.

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ADVANTAGES

1. Can focus sound only at the place you want.

2. Ultrasonic emitter devices are thin and flat and do not require a

mounting cabinet.

3. The focused or directed sound travels much faster in a straight line

than conventional l oudspeakers.

4. Dispersion can be controlled – very narrow or wider to cover more

listening area.

5. Can reduce or eliminate the feedback from microphones.

6. Highly cost effective as the maintenance required is less as compared

to conventional l oud speakers and have longer life span.

7. Requires only same power as required for regular speakers.

8. There is no lag in reproducing the sound.

APPLICATIONS

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1. Automobiles: Beam alert signals can be directly propagated from

an announcement device in the dashboard to the driver. Presently

Mercedes – Benz buses are fitted with audio spotlighting speakers

so that individual travellers can enjoy the music of there on interest.

2. Retail sales: Provide targeted advertising directly at the point of

purchase.

3. Safety off icials: Portable audio spotlighting devices for

communicating with a specific person in a crowd of people.

4. Public announcement: Highly focused announcement in noisy

environments such as subways, airports, amusement parks, traffic

intersections etc.
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5. Emergency rescue: Rescuers can communicate with endangered

people far from reach.

6. Entertainment system: In home theatre system rear speakers can be

eliminated by the implementation of audio spotlighting and the

properties of sound can be improved.

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7. Museums: In museums audio spotlight can be used to describe about

a particular object to a person standing in front it, so that the other

person standing in front of another object will not be able to hear the

description.

8. Military applications: Ship – to – ship communications and

shipboard announcements.

9. Audio/Video conferencing: Project the audio from a conference in

four different languages, forma single central device without the ne ed

for headphones.

10. Sound bullets : Jack the sound level 50 times the human threshold

of pain, and an offshoot of audio spotlighting sound technology

becomes a non-lethal weapon.

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FUTURE OF AUDIO SPOTLIGHTING

Even the best loudspeakers are subject to distortion and their omni

directional sound is annoying to the people in the vicinity who do no wish to

listen.

Audio spotlighting system holds the promise of replacing

conventional speakers. It allows the user to control the direction of

propagation of sound. The audio spotlight will force people to rethink their

relationship with sound. Audio spotlighting really “put sound where you

want it”.

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CONCLUSION

Audio spotlighting is really going to make a revolution in

sound transmission and the user can decide the path in which

audio signal should propagate. Due to the unidirectional

propagation it finds application in large number of fields. Audio

spotlighting system is going to shape the future of sound and will

serve our ears with magical exp erien ce.

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REFERENCES

1. F. Joseph Pompei. The use of airborne ultrasonics for generating audible

sound [Link] of the Audio Engineering Society, P. J. Westervelt.

Parametric acoustic array. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

2. Thomas D. Kite, John T. Post, and Mark F. Hamilton. Parametric array in air:

Distortion reduction by preproces sing. Journal of the Acoustical Society of

America.

3. Jacqueline Naze Tjotta and Sigve Tjotta. Nonlinear interaction of two

collinear, spherically spreading sound beams.

4. [Link] [Link] – Silent sound

5. [Link] [Link] - Sound from Ultrasound

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6. www .[Link] – Audio spotlighting

7. [Link]

8. www .[Link]

9. Electronics For You – Vol. 40 January 2008

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