The difficult part was designing the parts to emit the correct sound. While he considered the actual 3D printing of the cells to be somewhat arduous, he points out that making them was still quite straightforward. In a recent interview with, Cummer discussed the project. The cells operate at a frequency of 4000 Hz and the 12 cells cover 180° of relative phase delay, with a double layer allowing for 360° of relative phase delay. The unique metamaterials allow for the structures to morph into their 3D shapes, as well as controlling their properties.
(b) Comparison between holographic rendering with an active phased array and a hologram made of metamaterial-based passive phased array, which eliminates cumbersome phase-shifting electronics and a large number of transducers.Īs sound travels in waves, the researchers think it should be possible to manufacture entire 3D printed fields of sound that don’t rely on a tranducer array controlled by electronics, but rather a grouping of cells that work together to control the acoustic waves. This means that their design could open the door to a whole new world of holography, manipulated by acoustic waves.įrom the research team’s paper: (a) A schematic showing the holographic rendering of a letter ‘A’ with the passive metamaterial-based hologram. Each one is made up of a dozen blocks, 3D printed, that can be manipulated into different designs-bearing all the benefits of 3D printing as the researchers have been able to customize a functioning form of holography that is not only simple and unique but also affordable to produce. This device, created by the team at Duke led by Steve Cummer, an electrical and computer engineer, bears a modular design. Now, researchers at Duke University have been experimenting with a range of metamaterials meant to aid in the manufacturing of passive 3D acoustic holograms, created from one sound source that functions like a speaker.
We’ve seen holographic effect technology, gaming and conference tools, and DIY concepts, but the world is still waiting to see 3D printing technology meld with holography in a way that would offer innovation to important areas such as medicine. Technology futurists have been talking about holography for decades now and while we would have thought it would be front and center for image display by now, that hasn’t exactly been the case.
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