Fils Sound Film is a flexible, light transparent sound technology which can be used to create speakers pretty much anywhere you’d ever want. The speakers are actually produced using piezoelectric film which can produce sound waves when electrical current is applied. Sound quality isn’t stellar, since the low-end drops out at 200Hz, but the highs range all the way to 25kHz.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Fils currently wholesales a number of strange looking speaker units that are made from the thin stuff, like these.

But I think the real innovation will come when display manufacturers start layering this stuff in front of tiny flat screen portable devices which don’t have room for a speaker. I imagine you could also produce some pretty cool interactive art using this tech.

You can get more information on Sound Film technology over at the Fils website.

Johns Hopkins materials scientist Michaely Yu and his team claim to have invented a material which could allow for piezoelectic sound devices to be placed in areas previously thought to be too challenging.

The invention provides for a resin polymer which possesses piezoelectric properties usually found only in very heavy, brittle materials. If the early findings hold up, the flexible material and could be used to produce a coating which could create speakers embedded into wallpaper or even speakers that could be folded in two.

[Patent Application via New Scientist]