Ultrasound allows you to grope virtual objects

The picture on the left shows that the forms created by ultrasound can literally be felt in the air. Thanks to the new development of engineers from the University of Tokyo , the energy of ultrasound will soon be able to be used, for example, by the developers of computer games to “draw” in the air figures of the most complex shape, while clearly tangible. Now made the first steps in this direction.



Japanese scientists designed the device, which itself is quite simple: it consists of a series of ultrasound transducers controlled from a computer. The ultrasonic waves generated by each of the transmitters in the places of interference create focal points that are tangible to the touch. You can draw whole shapes from these points.



In the Japanese prototype there is also a digital camera that constantly monitors the position of the user's hand and shifts the focus to it. At the moment, the number of ultrasonic transmitters is only enough to draw small vertical strings, but the developers promise that in the future the geometry of the devices will become much more complicated. They can even transmit textures through the air.



Despite the relative primitiveness of the device, the development team has already received several commercial offers from a number of industrial companies. It is obvious that such a “materialization” of objects can be used not only in the entertainment industry, but also in 3D modeling and other areas.