Machine that Levitates Objects Using Sound [video]

If we assume they want to hold objects with a size of half a centimeter, a quick calculation shows they are using a sound frequency of 68000Hz.<p>-&gt; 340m&#x2F;s &#x2F; 0.005m = 68000Hz.<p>If we limit the frequency to above human hearing range (&gt;20000Hz) then maximum size of objects held in this way would be about 1.7 centimeters.

Could this be used to create a 3D display? For example, when turned off, it&#x27;s just a pile of styrofoam pellets, but when on, it can use standing waves to create shapes in midair?

Commercial Application Imagination Time:<p>Mix &amp; combine foods, chemicals, and drugs without contaminating them or using beakers or containers by floating them around the warehouse on tracks of sound imiting assembly lines. I&#x27;d imagine a huge factory with minimal moving parts and sterilized air where liquids are floated out and mixed. If you&#x27;re afraid the liquids will evaporate into the air while being mixed you can encase the assembly line in Anti-microbial glass vents (or black ones that don&#x27;t let UV light through). Basically floating chemicals through really clean tubes without touching the sides.

I wonder if this would be a good technology for a pick-and-place robot for circuits.<p>Obviously the palsy needs to be fixed, but assuming that&#x27;s solvable, it would be interesting to see it used as perfectly sterile tweezers.<p>Alternately, there seems to be some impressive vertical momentum imparted. Perhaps it could be used to launch small components into the air to be caught by another acoustic field, which does a more refined drop or transfer.<p>Or... Well, there&#x27;s an awful lot of applications, really. Truly cool tech.*<p>* This isn&#x27;t the first time a trick like this has been done, but it&#x27;s the first I&#x27;ve seen with such control and dexterity.<p>Low frequency sound &quot;halting&quot; flow of water (illusion): <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mODqQvlrgIQ" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=mODqQvlrgIQ</a><p>Non-Newtonian fluid on speaker: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIU" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIU</a><p>Of course yesterday&#x27;s article on General Fusion showing the power of a well focused waveform: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6996683" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=6996683</a>

I&#x27;ve been watching this same story submitted over and over again - it&#x27;s nice to see it get some traction.<p>In case you&#x27;re wondering, the other submissions have no comments, so I won&#x27;t link to them, even though the other sources may have more videos, more commentary, or better explanations. I&#x27;ve decided not to do the cross-referencing for a while.

mikeselectricstuff did a hack playing around with this concept &lt;<a href="http://youtu.be/qy1w6rTpC2g&gt;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;qy1w6rTpC2g&gt;</a>.<p>Not nearly as sophisticated as the linked post, but still pretty neat (especially seeing how he messes around with it).

I wonder the maximum weight that could be theoretically lifted, the amount of power to do it, and if&#x2F;when it could e.g: negatively-impact ears or skin.

I wonder if you can feel the waves with your hand. Presumably you can - anyone have any idea what that feels like?

It would be cool to see this used in medicine. Imagine using advanced imaging and standing waves focused(dynamically, with the aid of the computer) on arterial blockages that you wanted to clear.

Nice, after all this time watching all the history channel and other non-exact-scientific documentaries like the Aliens and Ancient Egyptians and others related that said they used the techonological power of the sound waves to lift the stones is finally real and proven not impossible.<p>I wait for the day when it&#x27;s finally proven they were advanced civilizations or helped by aliens :D.<p>This could be extremelly useful, I&#x27;m excited for more news about this.

This might be interesting for positioning radiation targets without support structures. I wonder how well this would work at high-pressures or in liquids.

Would be a pretty cool way to put on an Iron Man suit.

Did I forget my physics, or do their diagrams actually show the particles suspended at the anti-nodes, i.e. the high-pressure areas?

Would the air around the object being levitated be trapped as well?

Excellent. How soon can I get it in a screwdriver form-factor?

DAE just watch Dune recently?