Tech

New audio tech could let you listen privately without headphones

With acoustic metasurfaces, researchers bend sound waves to their will

An image of pink human figures in a crowd. In the center is one orange human figure looking up and smiling as audio waves go through its ears.

Scientists are developing technology to deliver private audio directly to a listener’s ears out in the open so that others nearby can’t hear it.

PETER CROWTHER

By Ananya Palivela

Controlling sound has long been a staple of science fiction and fantasy. In Dune, the cone of silence allows characters to converse privately, even in open spaces. The eerie billboards of Blade Runner 2049 whisper advertisements into the ears of those passing by.