Sensaphonics is a company that develops hearing protectors. They have developed the Delphi earpiece that has in-built accelerometers in the earpieces that measures the acceleration of the users head. These earpieces are worn by Indy car drivers to measure the acceleration of the head during a crash.

Read about the headset here.

Skullcandy manufacture headphones that incorporate 30mm diameter vibration units in each ear to enhance the bass response of the 30mm loudspeaker earpieces.

Go to the Skullcandy web site to read more about the SkullCrusher headphones.

A company is manufacturing vibrating gym equipment that they claim enhances fat burning in the body. Gym users touch a plate that vibrates between 30-60Hz which causes muscles in the body to work.

Read more about the equipment here.

Head make snowboards that have active vibration control systems incorporated into the board to reduce vibrations using piezoelectric strips. Their system is called the Adaptive Intelligence(TM) Chip Technology. Check out the Head’s Monster i.M 75 Chip Super Railflex skis.

See a demonstration of their system here.

Walmart are now selling a range of headphones that use active noise control technology.

See the Walmart web site.

Professor Robert E. Newnham will receive the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering. The award is made in recognition of Professor Newnham’s pioneer groundwork in understanding the properties of composite piezoelectric materials for use as transducers, sensors, and actuators. His early papers in this field demonstrated the importance of connectivity patterns and various strain amplification mechanisms within the composites, and provided a frame of reference for scientists and engineers working in underwater acoustics, bioengineering, and materials science.

Read more details about the Franklin Awards.

Researchers at Imperial College are investigating using thermosonics to detect cracks in materials. The technique involves vibrating parts with ultrasonic vibration in the 20-100kHz frequency range, which causes the surfaces of a crack to rub together and generate heat, which can be detected with a thermal imaging camera.

Read more about this on the Imperial College web site.

Japan Today has an article on a cell phone that uses bone conduction for the speaker. The user presses the phone against her jaw and the sound is transmitted into the ear using bone conduction. The phone is made by Tu-Ka Cellular

An Israeli company called Phone-Or is making optical microphones. Light is reflected off a vibrating membrane and is used to measure the vibration amplitude. These devices are well suited to environments where there are strong radio or magnetic fields, where conventional microphones will not work.

NASA Langley Research Center are conducting experiments at Denver International Airport to measure the sound generated by the vortex wake of aircraft. In addition two LIDARs (laser radars) will be used to measure the vortex strength and movement. The scientists hope to determine whether a permanent monitoring system is feasable at an operating airport.

Read the press release on the NASA web site.