Spring into STEM | Modern Magic Tricks: Using Soundwaves & Holography to Levitate Objects

There is something magical about being able to interact with a 3D display that shows a hologram in front of us to create a Princess Leia effect. It gets even more magical when we not only see 3D, but feel, hear, taste and smell it.

Professor Sri Subramanian's research is driven by this vision to deliver novel multi-sensory experiences to users without instrumenting them. For example, we can manipulate sound to levitate tiny objects in mid-air and move them 10,000 times a second so that the object disappears, and a 3D shape emerges in its place.

These sensations are created in mid-air – so users don’t have to touch or hold any device to experience it. Using principles from acoustic holography, many tiny and precisely timed speakers are used to shape the frontwave. 

Such walk-up-and-use devices are starting to find their way into theme parks, ticketing stations and many other everyday places.

In this lightning lecture (15 minutes talk, 15 minutes Q&A), Professor Subramanian explains how this is done and how immersive experiences are created.