Sound & Stage's top technologies of 2010

The top tech of 2010.

2010 is shaping up as a watershed year for technological innovation in the pro audio, lighting and AV presentation sectors. Aaron Greenwood previews the top 10 technologies set to change the way you do business through 2010 and beyond.

Interactive Holographic Displays
Alternate Realities
Undoubtedly the coolest AV technology yet imagined, prototype interactive holographic projectors were first previewed at SIGGRAPH 2008.

Dubbed the Ultrasound Tactile Display (UTD), the technology employs ultrasound technology to enable ‘touchable’ holograms, making the realms portrayed in films from Blade Runner to Minority Report an entirely tangible reality.

The technology, developed by researchers at the University of Tokyo, utilises a 3D projector and mirror reflector, which radiates high-fidelity pressure on to the user’s hands, providing a degree of tactility when interacting with the holographic images.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

In a research paper published to coincide with the UTD’s debut, the Japanese research team revealed it was working to develop the technology for applications ranging from gaming to stereoscopic 3D displays.

“It is also expected that by superimposing the acoustic radiation pressure onto the 3D graphic objects presented with stereoscopic displays, it will effectively enhance the reality of the 3D virtual objects,” the report concluded.

How cool is that?

Next-generation Amplifiers
Power amplifiers have improved remarkably in recent years, but recent advances in amplification technology promise to change the way the pro audio game is played entirely.

Infinitely smaller microprocessors will not only enable a host of applications in previously unheard of products – everything from mobile phone loudspeakers to active studio headphones – they’ll also support new, expansive wireless networks of active speakers in large-scale live audio environments.

Improvements in class D amplifier design have opened up the market to powerful amps with little if any latent power loss, ensuring greater operational efficiency (around 40% on average) compared to class A or B products.

According to Sergio Sanchez Moreno, an audio engineer with coldamp, the theoretical maximum efficiency of class D designs is 100%, “although more than 90% is regularly attainable in practice”.

“This efficiency is high from very moderate power levels up to clipping, and it is higher as the power increases, due to some fixed losses in the control and gate-drive circuitry,” he says. “In class B, around 50% efficiency is achieved in practical use with music signals.”

Lighting Trends
Intelligent LEDs
The future is bright…
The lighting technology for now and the foreseeable future, light emitting diodes (LEDs) have found favour in every corner of the lighting industry, from architectural to stage effects design.

The technology’s future prospects hinge on two main areas of development: improved brightness providing for spotlight applications and intelligent design incorporating a range of visual media facets, including digital projection and interaction with other LED fixtures.

The rapid development of these fixtures is mirrored by the emergence of highly capable media servers and switchers managing output and control of multiple fixtures in large-scale lighting rigs.

Combine this hardware with super-quick microprocessors and advanced software control, and the future looks bright for LED lighting fixtures capable of projecting pure white light, multimedia content and a variety of gobos, all from the one device.

Stepping into the light
The limitations of LED lighting technologies to project a pure white beam of light has ensured the continued popularity of halogen fixtures in the live events market. However, things are changing rapidly in this regard.

Quantum Dots
Connecting more than four
One of the most exciting discoveries of recent years in terms of commercial lighting applications relates to the quantum dot.

In 2005, Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University in the United States, discovered a new application for minute quantum dots – crystals only a few nanometres big that contain anything from 100 to 1000 electrons – when he shone a laser on the collection during an experiment.

Quantum dots generally produce a vibrant colour when a regular analogue spotlight is shone on them. But with the laser, the electrons reacted to create a bright white light reminiscent of a regular halogen lamp.

Bowers then extended his research, coating LED nodes with a collection of quantum dots, only to find the fixture gave off a pure white light that shone twice as brightly and lasted twice as long as a regular 60W bulb.

Quantum dots offer huge potential not only in the lighting sector but also the digital display market. US company QD Vision has led the pack in this respect, developing QD-LED displays in addition to a Quantum Light optic for a new LED lamp developed by Nexxus Lighting that is claimed to combine the warmth and colour of incandescent bulbs with the efficiency of LED technology.

The commercial potential of the technology is evident in the interest shown by investors in the company in recent months, despite ongoing economic difficulties in the US.

At the time of writing, the company had attracted more than $15m in the previous six weeks alone in seed funding, as well as official commendations from the Obama administration.

“We believe that quantum dot-based materials have physical properties that can help display and lighting makers reach the holy grail of breakthrough performance in mass production with competitive consumer prices,” says QD Vision CEO Dan Button.

“The key issues facing lighting and display manufacturers – lifetime, colour, power efficiency, manufacturability and scalability – are being addressed by this technology.”