Sonoflex: Embroidered speakers without permanent magnets

Thomas Preindl, Cedric Honnet, Andreas Pointner, Roland Aigner, Joseph A. Paradiso, Michael Haller

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingsConference contributionpeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present Sonoflex, a thin-form, embroidered dynamic speaker made without using a permanent magnet. Our design consists of two flat spiral coils, stacked on top of each other, and is based on an isolated, thin (0.15 mm) enameled copper wire. Our approach allows for thin, lightweight, and textile speakers and does not require high voltage as in electrostatic speakers. We show how the speaker can be designed and fabricated and evaluate its acoustic properties as a function of manufacturing parameters (size, turn counts, turn spacing, and substrate materials). The experiment results revealed that we can produce audible sound with a broad frequency range (1.5 kHz - 20 kHz) with the embroidered speaker with a diameter of 50 mm. We conclude the paper by presenting several applications such as audible notifications and near-ultrasound communication.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUIST 2020 - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages675-685
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781450375146
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Oct 2020
Event33rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, UIST 2020 - Virtual, Online, United States
Duration: 20 Oct 202023 Oct 2020

Publication series

NameUIST 2020 - Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology

Conference

Conference33rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, UIST 2020
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityVirtual, Online
Period20.10.202023.10.2020

Keywords

  • Embroidered speaker
  • Embroidery
  • Lightweight speaker
  • Smart textile
  • Textile loudspeaker
  • Textile transducer

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