27 October 2015

Tractor Beam Uses Acoustic Holograms to Move Objects

Scientists had already been working on models that can push tiny objects small distances using light, but a new version of a tractor beam uses sound instead. Researchers figured out a way to manipulate a tiny physical object using what they call, acoustic holograms.


The researchers used a grid of tiny loudspeakers to levitate, rotate, and otherwise manipulate a tiny ball in mid air. They did this by programming the speakers to send out high intensity sounds that create a kind of force field around the object.

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