Terfenol-D
Smart Metal:
Last August, Etrema—an innovative technology firm nestled in the cornfields of Ames, Iowa—started selling those chrome discs for $1,500 a pair. Called Whispering Windows, they can turn any wall, window, or drab conference table into a speaker.
...
Then Conley tells me to stick my fingers in my ears. "Relax," he says as he places the cold disc on my forehead. "We're just turning your head into a speaker." A few seconds later, even though my ears are plugged, power chords blast through my skull. It feels like the loud crunch that fills my head when I bite into a tortilla chip, except the crunch is music. The stereo sound is inescapable. I can't say it's a pleasant experience—afterward I will down a bottle of Tylenol—but it's not every day that your head serves as a piece of stereo equipment.
* Ray, 11/03/2003 01:53:39 PM
