ARTICLE

September 2004

Walls Can Speak…Inside Planes

by Robert H. Williams

Flat-panel speaker technology originally developed for the military is finding application in the commercial aircraft industry. The United Kingdom’s military research agency, QinetiQ, discovered more than a decade ago that panels surrounding the interior of an aircraft cabin are efficient conductors of sound. The technology was licensed to NXT Plc and evolved into distributed mode loudspeakers.

QinetiQ, meanwhile, is marketing this technology to the aerospace industry. “Advantages of flat-panel speakers over conventional cone loudspeakers include a more even distribution of sound, broader operating bandwidth and the potential for overall weight reduction in a typical installation,” said a spokesman. “Voice intelligibility has also been noticeably improved.”

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