Printable Speakers

D

espite predictions made at the dawn of the computer age, paper is far from dead. In fact, new research is breathing new life into plain old paper. German scientists have created paper speakers that could some day replace your space-wasting old-fashioned woofers and tweeters.

The project began a few years ago at the Institute for Print and Media Technology at Chemnitz University of Technology, Saxony.

It works by printing several layers of polymers and conductive chemicals onto the paper.

“A cable is used to run music from a computer or MP3 player, which causes the printed layers to vibrate against each other and push the sound out,” project member Dr. Georg Schmidt, told German newspaper The Local.

There are drawbacks, of course. The speakers can’t exactly handle loud volume, and don’t transmit deep bass frequencies especially well, so it’s unlikely they will appeal to serious audiophiles.

In fact, the most likely application for this technology will be for packaging. So if you’ve been waiting for cereal boxes that talk, or product displays that shout at you, your wish may soon be coming true.