We've already written about the audio waves moving water and sand in astonishing patterns. However, we've never seen someone use sound waves to manipulate objects in mid-air before! This is exactly the kind of device that engineers from The University of Tokyo and The Nagoya Institute of Technology have recently introduced to the public.
The apparatus created by Yoichi Ochiai, Takayuki Hoshi and Jun Rekimoto uses four phased arrays of externally controlled speakers intersecting at a focal point. Surprisingly, the process is absolutely silent as the device uses ultrasonic speakers.
Source: arxiv.org (via: thisiscolossal)