1 of 4
Disney, via YouTube
Disney Research
2 of 4
Disney, via YouTube
Disney Research
3 of 4
Disney, via YouTube
Disney Research
Loudspeakers 3D printed using this new method emit sounds from every part of the object's surface.
4 of 4
3D Printed Interactive Speakers
Link to project page & press release:http://www.disneyresearch.com/project...
We propose technology for designing and manufacturing interactive 3D printed speakers. With the proposed technology, sound reproduction can easily be integrated into various objects at the design stage and little assembly is required.
Disney's 3D printing operation is approaching the simple loudspeaker from a very different angle, exploding the possibilities for not only design, but for toys and gaming.
Scientists at Disney Research in Pittsburgh have been working on methods of using additive manufacturing to produce electrostatic speakers that mean they do not have to be made in a conventional shape.
"Forget everything you know about what a loudspeaker should look like," researchers stated, adding this technique can make speakers take the form of anything "from a rubber ducky to an abstract spiral".
Yoshio Ishiguro, Disney Research Post-Doctoral Associate, explained that simple speakers require minimal assembly, but even these manual steps could be eliminated altogether in future with 3D printing thanks to the ability to additive manufacture using conductive materials, enabling a fully working speaker to be produced in one go.
Ishiguro's method - which was developed in partnership with former Disney Research Principal Research Scientist Ivan Poupyrev - was demonstrated at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Toronto this week (April 29th), which showed how speaker technology can be used to add sound to numerous toys and other objects.
Because the same speakers that produce audible sound can also produce ultrasound, which is inaudible, the objects can be identified and tracked, so they can be integrated into games and other systems. The objects too can be touched or held by the user without any change in sound quality, so simple, tactile feedback may also be possible.
Based on electrostatic speaker technology first developed in the 1930s but never widely adopted, this speaker is simpler than a conventional loudspeaker and includes no moving parts. Electrostatic speakers consist of a thin, conductive diaphragm and an electrode plate separated by a miniscule later of air. An audio signal is amplified to high voltage and applied to the electrode plate and as the electrode charges, an electrostatic force develops between it and the diaphragm leading to the diaphragm to change, producing sound. This system cannot yield much bass response, but is ideal for producing high-frequency noises like computer-generated tones, the human voice and ambient noise like birds chirping. Sound reproduction of up to 60 decibels is possible, which is appropriate for small objects.
Ishiguro and Poupyrev's method involved spraying nickel-based conductive paint on a surface and creating a full-body compliant diaphragm using negative moulds produced using 3D printing and spraying these with conductive paint with a polyethylene coating.
"Once multi-material 3D printers are developed that can print functional electrical circuits and electrodes, these manual steps could be eliminated," the researchers stated.
The speakers can be built with any number or configuration of electrodes, allowing the sound to be emitted at numerous angles.
"What’s more, it can generate sound across the entire face of the speaker," said Ishiguro, making it possible to take the sound wider than a traditional cone-shaped speaker, allowing an entire 3D surface to emit sound.
