MIT Technology Review's The Sound War profiles two innovators in directional sound, Elwood “Woody” Norris (the self-taught inventor) and F. Joseph Pompei (the MIT Media Lab PhD). More details on their respective inventions/companies can be found on the ATC HyperSonic Sound and Holosonic Audio Spotlight websites. (via Engadget)

note for in person delight:
The Holosonic Audio Spotlight is on display at the Museum of Science in Boston. The web site doesn't say when the exhibit goes down, but it's been up since August 2003. // bonus geek note: The museum will open a Lord of the Rings Exhibition, on August 1, 2004, featuring costumes, jewelry, CG/special effects/animatronics highlights, video interviews, and on and on and on.

also sound related -
sound waves = temperature drop. ben and jerry's is using a 190-decibel note that fluctuates some 100 times per second in combination with a system of air circulators then funnels the cool air created in sound wave pockets into the ice cream case. the thermoacoustic refreigerators were developed at Penn State. (via HubLog)