I-MU Vibrating Speakers

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I actually have seen them at the CES 2007 and thought there were pretty cool. Wondering if the design was really meant to be that way or am I the only one who thinks it looks a little perverted? You can see them in action in this video.

Guaranteed to cause consternation amongst office hi-fi bores, this pioneering gizmo is set to become the speaker of choice for fans of forehead-slappingly clever whatsits the world over. It’ll get walls jumping, desks pumping and windows thumping. Cumbersome cabinets? Who needs ’em!

But how does the I-MU Vibro actually work, we hear you ask? Well, boffins over at the Firebox Sonic Research Institute spent seconds examining this super-energy crystal speaker but were too busy catching falling jaws to work it out. And that’s because this sound innovation pumps out amazingly impressive sonics that need to be heard to be disbelieved.

Here comes the science bit…The main component is a tiny piece of a material called Terfenol-D, which was originally used by the US Navy for sonar work. The Terfenol is placed within an aluminium case and a coil wrapped round it. When electricity is passed through the coil the Terfenol expands slightly creating a massive force of 400 pounds – when its attached to a flat surface it transmits electronic signals into mechanical energy causing the flat surface to vibrate and broadcasts the sound.

Mains-powered, the gorgeously stylish I-MU Vibro is extremely energy efficient, and because it uses the surface it sits on to amplify your tunes, it’s space efficient too. The fact that it looks like a titchy hi-tech vibrating joystick is an added bonus. So you can keep your woofers and tweeters, the I-MU Vibro really is the smart choice when it comes to bringing the house down.