published
in Exhibit Builder - Mar / Apr 2004
Audio Spotlight - The Solution to one of life's many challenges
Did you ever need to put sound into just one small area of a trade
show booth exhibit or display? Ever struggle to make an environment
more effective, engaging and quieter by eliminating overlapping
sounds? Enter the Audio Spotlight!
Current / Previous Solutions
The Audio Spotlight is a relatively new product developed at MIT
that allows the user to beam sound into very small area of an
exhibit or display. The beam from an Audio Spotlight is just 18"
to 24" across and can be projected several 100 feet. Until approximately
5 years ago, directional speakers such as sound dome products
and steered arrays had been used to create zones of sound. However,
the sound projected from a sound dome or array is regular sound,
shaped to remain in a smaller area. Once this standard sound leaves
the confines of the dome, it immediately wants to spread out to
fill up all of the space surrounding the dome. The sound from
these more widely known products is about 60% directional at most.
The ultra sound beam from an Audio Spotlight, instead wants to
remain in a narrow beam, more like the beam of light from a spotlight.
As a result, the Audio Spotlight enables the exhibit designer
and builder the ability to add sounds into very small spaces and
create narration or musical environments where previously this
had not been practical. This beam of sound is somewhere between
90-95% directional.
Advantages of the Audio Spotlight
The purpose of using the Audio Spotlight is to create atmospheres
of sound within an exhibit without the use of sound partitioning.
The Audio Spotlight keeps an exhibit space quieter by eliminating
overlapping areas of sound that make an exhibit louder, annoying
and confusing. Normally sounds add up within a space increasing
the ambient noise level within that space. If an exhibit has 20
people talking loudly, the exhibit gets louder. Every sound within
the exhibit spreads out to fill that and the surrounding space.
Thus, in an area like a trade show, where there are many people
interacting, live presentations, and music playing in the background,
the environment gets loud and even annoying very quickly. All
of the sounds add up to create a louder environment or higher
sound level. Since the sounds created by the Audio Spoltight are
not heard outside the beam, many Audio Spotlights can be used
in the same exhibit space without making that exhibit space any
louder.
System Components
The Audio Spotlight equipment consists of a transducer (speaker),
amplifier and coax cable connecting the two. Standard sound devices
are used to create the source signal, such as DVD, CD or computers.
The short wavelengths contained in the ultrasound beams, make
the beam perform more like one of light than sound, so the sound
projects straight from the transducer without spreading out to
fill the room. To produce this beam of sound, the whole system
must be used (amplifier, coax cable and transducer). The beam
of sound is actually so focused that it will reflect off a hard
surface, like a beam of light coming from a mirror.
Trade
Show Installations & Applications
Several companies have integrated this technology into their trade
show exhibits during the last 4 years. Recently, Master Brands,
a cabinet maker from Jasper, Indiana added this technology to
improve their presentation at the Homebuilder's show (Booth 5040,
Las Vegas Convention Center, January 18-21). Master Brands wanted
to drive home their company motto and make their exhibit more
user friendly by adding narration about different product lines
to various areas of their display. With the help of Exhibit and
Display Consultants in Providence RI and Muse Presentation Technologies
in Santa Ana CA, 12 zones of sound were created in various areas
within the exhibit.
History of Installations
The first Audio Spotlight was installed at Joypolis, Sega's amusement
park in Tokyo Japan more than five years ago. Audio Spotlights
have been installed at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (French
National Library) and ACMI at Federation Square in Melbourne Australia
for almost four years. In addition there are Audio Spotlights
installed in several museums around the US, including Disney's
Epcot Center and the Smithsonian Air and Space museum.
Future Applications
Several of the automobile and electronics manufacturers around
the world are currently experimenting with the Audio Spotlight.
Imagine everyone being able to listen to a different radio station
in each seat of the car during your next outing with the family
or being able to watch TV late at night next to your spouse, without
them hearing the audio part of the broadcast! The Audio Spotlight
will definitely help solve a problem that as exhibit builders
and designers we have struggled with for a long time.
Transducer (Speaker) Positioning
In the Master Brands booth, 12 Audio Spotlight transducers (speakers)
were mounted very discreetly on poles 14' above the ground. 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 ears, or 15' 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.
Transducer (Speaker)
The Audio Spotlight transducer is very discreet, at only ½" thick.
The transducers come in two standard sizes 18" round or 24" hexagonal.
The cover of the Audio Spotlight is produced using sublimation
printable lycra. For an additional fee, this lycra cover can be
printed to look like anything that we can take a digital picture
of, making integration into an existing display or trade show
environment even easier. This lycra cover can be produced with
an elastic edge so that it is easily interchangeable. The transducer
emits an ultrasound beam. There is no light involved, so there
is now way to know that you are stepping into the beam of sound,
unless the exhibit builder integrates a sign or signal into the
environment.
Amplifier
The transducers are driven by a small ultrasound amplifier 6.75"
W x 2.28" H x 11" D. The amplifier receives the input signal from
a standard audio source such as a computer, CD player or DVD.
The amplifier can currently push the sound signal through a cable
110' long without any in-line signal amplification. Developments
are currently being tested which will extend that distance a great
deal. The amplifier runs on standard 110V or 220V power and is
very easily adaptable to European or Asian versions of electrical
power. Master Brands used audio tracks which consisted of 30 second
narrative loops. However, the sound track can include either narration
or music or a combination of both. As noted below, professional
production of the sound track is recommended.
Sound Track Production / Product Audio Performance
The Audio Spotlight does not currently reproduce bass below 350
Hz well. As a result, the audio track is produced - equalized
and mixed to eliminate most of these tones. To create a more dynamic
acoustic environment, the low tones can be added back into the
space with a subwoofer. Of course the sounds from a subwoofer
will not be directional, but luckily, bass heard by itself is
very non-descript and thus, non-obtrusive. We have found that
subwoofers are a non-distracting way to add the low tones back
into the space without unnecessarily increasing the sound level
or potential for audio related distraction. We have sources around
the country that can produce the Audio Spotlight soundtracks for
as little as $300 / finished minute. At such reasonable rates
professional sound production is recommended. Where can I get
the Audio Spotlight?
More detailed Audio Spotlight information
For more detailed information about Audio Spotlight product performance,
rental or sales click here to go to AudioSpotlights.com