PEACE is in sight for couples at war because one wants surround sound while
the other threatens to move out if five loudspeakers move in. The answer is a
single speaker panel that can produce up to six separate—and
steerable—beams of sound to create the same effect as speakers spaced all
around a room.
New Scientist heard the system in action at a Cambridge lab just
before Christmas. We heard beams so well separated that one listener can be
hearing only a harpsichord while another, just two metres away, is hearing only
a guitar. Or one listener could…
