New Fibers Detect and Make Sound

MIT researchers have demonstrated that they can manufacture acoustic fibers with flat surfaces, like those shown here, as well as fibers with circular cross-sections. The flat fibers could prove particularly useful in acoustic imaging devices. Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT/Greg Hren

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led by Dr. Yoel Fink, associate professor of Materials Science at MIT’s Research Lab of Electronics, have developed new fibers that can detect and produce sound.

Applications could include clothes that can capture speech or monitor biological functions, according to a press release.

The fibers are made from two different types of plastic—one of which has piezoelectric properties, meaning that it changes shape when an electric field is applied to it.

A fabric woven from acoustic fibers would provide the equivalent of millions of tiny acoustic sensors, said the researchers.

The research was published online on July 11 and will appear in the August issue of the journal Nature Materials.