Over 2 billion people worldwide use headphones every day—yet we still can’t share sound without overwhelming the room around us.

 Over 2 billion people worldwide use headphones every day—yet we still can’t share sound without overwhelming the room around us.

**In a groundbreaking breakthrough, researchers at Penn State and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory created “audible enclaves”—**private zones of sound that only one listener can hear, without headphones.

They achieved this by intersecting two inaudible ultrasonic beams—shaped using 3D‑printed acoustic metasurfaces—which only generate sound at their crossing point. Much like how lenses bend light, these metasurfaces curve sound waves around obstacles like human heads, creating a “virtual headset.” 

Key highlights:

Tested in realistic rooms—only the intended listener hears the audio.  

Creates sound pockets at normal speaking-volume (~60 dB) up to ~1 m distance.  

Potential for museum audio guides, libraries, cars, or private messages in crowded spaces.  

🔗 Raw links for further reading: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2408975122

https://www.psu.edu/news/engineering/story/audible-enclaves-could-enable-private-listening-without-headphones

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-create-pockets-of-music-from-inaudible-ultrasound-waves/

https://www.livescience.com/technology/self-bending-beams-can-deliver-sound-waves-only-to-your-ear-in-a-crowd

https://musicradar.com/music-tech/gear-gadgets/rip-headphones-new-tech-can-now-beam-music-into-your-ears-without-the-need-for-any-hardware

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-india-dhruv-bhikadiya-a0126929a/

📝 Blogspot: https://www.blogger.com/profile/1759835479157487322

2

As a healthcare innovator, I’m excited about how this spatial audio tech could transform communication in clinical environments—imagine silent patient alerts or targeted rehabilitation cues.

What applications do you envision? Drop your thoughts below.

#HealthcareInnovation #AcousticTech #FutureOfMedicine #SpatialAudio #DrDhruv #MedicalT

echnology #TechInMedicine