Sound Tech Taps Helicopter-Silencing Effort

NXT plans to tap into the booming digital photo frame market with models that project sound from clear acrylic screens directly at viewers. Current audio-enabled digital photo frames feature speakers in the rear.

Loudspeaker bars that clip to laptop computers and a slim hands-free mobile phone chatting device that fit on car visors are also made with SurfaceSound material.

NXT recently made a deal with greeting card giant Hallmark to use the technology in "big cards with big sound" when opened, Bullen said.

"These products speak for themselves," NXT chief executive Peter Thoms told AFP, claiming the pun was intended.

"The wow factor is when people hear it. We're going where other people can't put loudspeakers."

NXT is working on ways to put the technology to use in touch screens that promise to be part of a new rage in "natural interfaces" for computers, mobile telephones, televisions and other electronic devices.

The SurfaceSound material can be made to vibrate when touched, with individual frequencies tailored to each finger.

"We hear a lot of talk that touch screens are going to be big," Thoms said.

"So the challenge now is to make a silent loudspeaker; something you feel but don't hear unless you hold it close to your ear."

Related Links:

Tracy Staedter's blog: What the Tech?

Consumer Electronics Show

NXT Sound