For many years, scientists from all over the world have been trying to develop effective levitation technology, because this will pave the way not only for the creation of new vehicles (hello, hoverboard!), But also change our entire environment. There are many developments, but most of them are extremely difficult to implement. However, a group of researchers from the UK has made significant progress on this issue, developing technology that can cause objects to levitate, even if there are obstacles below them.
The technology was named SoundBender and researchers at the University of Sussex are responsible for its creation. It is an interface capable of generating dynamic ultrasonic waves that bend around obstacles. This allows small objects to levitate. According to Dr. Janulka Memoli, one of the authors of the work,
The authors of the work are Dr. Gianulca Memoli, Dr. Mohd Noraskin Adili and Dr. Diego Martinez Placenci.
Acoustic metamaterials in this case allow creating an acoustic field with high spatial resolution, and phased arrays provide the required amplitude to control the propagation of the sound field. With SoundBender, you can control both solids and liquids and even control the path of odors. Now the only limitation is that the system can only bypass small static obstacles, but in the future the technology will allow interaction with large obstacles in motion.
Although, according to the authors, the technology can already be adapted for the entertainment industry by developing board games or interactive exhibitions.
Vladimir Kuznetsov
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