QBeam - low power speaker elements for a green generation

Revolutionizing Speaker Technology: Towards a Greener Future The Problem with Today's Speakers Current speaker technology is highly inefficient, wasting over 95% of electrical energy as heat and converting less than 5% into sound. This inefficiency hinders the green transition in audio systems, increasing energy demand as speaker use grows. The Quest for Low Power Solutions Manufacturers have developed low-power speaker technology for wearables using Micro ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS). However, scaling MEMS for larger speakers like Apple's HomePod is challenging due to the need for moving more air to produce sufficient sound. A Breakthrough at SINTEF MiNaLab SINTEF MiNaLab has created a new material with excellent electrical to acoustic energy conversion for advanced MEMS elements. These elements work best at resonance, producing a single tone or narrow frequency band. A system producing multiple resonant tones could efficiently synthesize any sound. The Multi-Tone Resonance Solution A speaker operating like a modern pipe organ with many overlapping tones can be highly efficient, reducing energy lost to heat from over 95% to just 10%. This innovation could allow wireless speakers to operate for weeks without recharging and enable solar-powered smart speakers. Market Potential and Future Prospects The smart speaker market, valued at over $60 billion, is growing. QBeam, a new spin-out company, aims to leverage this advanced MEMS technology to meet the demand for energy-efficient audio solutions, leading the green transition in the speaker industry.

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