Now your skin can sing!
We now have circuit-board tattoos that can be played like synths, wearable bracelets that act as booming subwoofers and bio-hacks that allow you to control technology by dialing your skin. It’s safe to say the wearable music revolution is well under way.
Now, new research in the field is currently underway to develop wearable “smart skin” that will make your skin act like a loudspeaker. Created in part to help the hearing- and speech-impaired, the fully-transparent surface is made of silver wires coated in polymer and can be embedded into ears or as a patch on the throat to help skin pick up audio signals.
The smart skin first receives an electric signal from a music player. The loudspeaker then heats up the wire grid, which allows the sound signal to be replicated by changing the pressure of the surrounding air. This works both ways, as the system can pick up sound waves and convert them to signals to be played back by a smartphone.
Currently, though, there’s one issue keeping us all from slapping smart skin speakers on our hands: sound quality. The scientists behind this technology are trying to turn the quiet, thin sound emitted by the speakers into a loud, full experience. If you thought wireless speakers were portable, just wait until you can wear them!
Check out a snippet of how the new technology works in the video above.
Read more: From AI to Blockchain — how these 11 apps could change music