Acoustic Fabric – Intelligent and Attentive!
Recommended for Acoustics
A novel acoustic fabric, inspired by the human ear, turns audible sounds into electrical impulses.
What is acoustics?
Acoustics is a branch of physics that studies how sound waves move in air, water and solids.
Fabric that listens!
The acoustic fabric is developed by MIT engineers and researchers at the Rhode Island School of Design. The fabric acts like a microphone and converts sound into vibration and electrical signals. At the fundamental level, this is pretty much how human ears work.
All fabrics vibrate in response to sounds that can be heard, but these vibrations are so small that they can’t be felt. The researchers came up with a flexible fibre that, when woven into a fabric, bends with the fabric like seaweed on the surface of the water.
The science behind the Idea!
The acoustic fabric is made of a material that makes an electrical signal when bent or mechanically deformed. This enables the fabric a way to turn sound vibrations into electrical signals. The fabric can pick up sounds from a quiet library to a lot of traffic. In addition, it can figure out the exact direction of sudden sounds like handclaps.
When the fabric is woven into a shirt’s lining, it can read a person’s heartbeat features. Isn’t that cool? Also, the fibres can also be made to make sound, like a recording of spoken words, that another fabric can pick up on.
Practical uses of the fabric!
- The researchers who created the fabric see a lot of different practical applications. For example, one could answer phone calls and communicate with other people.
- In addition, this fabric can’t be seen when it comes into contact with the skin, so wearers can keep an eye on their heart and respiratory health in a comfortable, real-time, and long-term way.
- It’s possible that the fabric that can detect sound in a specific direction could help people who have trouble hearing hear a speaker in a noisy place.
What do our young readers think about the acoustic fabric? How do you see yourself using it in your everyday lives?
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Watch a video
Be sure to check out this informative Youtube video on how “Sound works”, shared by “Acoustic Geometry”.
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