Tubular bells?

November 5, 2008 3:31 PM

"Next-generation loudspeakers could be as thin as paper, as clear as glass, and as stretchable as rubber." Making sound from heat and vice versa is nothing new, but a flat loudspeaker sure would be cool, provided nothing goes wrong. [previously.]
posted by arcanecrowbar (14 comments total)

I gotta say, a singing jacket sounds really annoying.
posted by puke & cry at 3:43 PM on November 5, 2008

Singing condoms--oh yes.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 3:47 PM on November 5, 2008 [1 favorite]

This had me wondering about speaker cables.
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:50 PM on November 5, 2008

Making sound from flame.
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:56 PM on November 5, 2008

Will the bass still make the trunk lid of my low riding Honda Civic buzz even if the trunk lid is the speaker?
posted by kuujjuarapik at 4:55 PM on November 5, 2008

I prefer plasma arc loudspeakers. The sheer number of things that could go wrong with them would turn just listening to music into an extreme sport of sorts...
posted by PontifexPrimus at 4:56 PM on November 5, 2008 [2 favorites]

I have had a hard-on for CNT for years now, as potential high-strength, light-weight construction material for structures and vehicles; as superconducting material for cabling or electric motors (even jet engines); as microscopic frictionless batteries; as the next generation of microchip, etc, etc.

Stretchable transparent speakers? Fuck, just one more area they totally rule...
posted by hincandenza at 4:57 PM on November 5, 2008

Add this to your mini projector in your outfit.
posted by acro at 5:27 PM on November 5, 2008

But how can we relate Obama to this?
posted by mattholomew at 6:09 PM on November 5, 2008

Ok if this is accurate... I could listen to music while bicycling AND keep myself warm during the winter. A jacket made out of this stuff would have a surface temp of 80 F (so says link 1 of the article). I wonder how efficient it is at doing its job?
posted by Severian at 9:43 PM on November 5, 2008

Since these speakers don't vibrate, doesn't that mean that one should be capable of producing full-range sound (20-2kHz) without compromise?
posted by waxboy at 8:34 AM on November 6, 2008

In contrast - the Focal Grand Utopia EM - weighing in at over 500 pounds each and standing over six feet tall, and costing as much as a moderate house.
posted by caddis at 9:07 AM on November 6, 2008

So, these speakers... they don't vibraAGH NO STOP ME BEFORE I MEME AGAIN
posted by FatherDagon at 11:30 AM on November 6, 2008

Martin Logan transparent electrostatic loudspeakers may have some competition from this material.
posted by hortense at 12:15 AM on November 7, 2008