Technology improves visualization of sound

With the continuing battle to reduce the interior and exterior noise of vehicles (the first for customer satisfaction reasons; the second mostly driven by regulatory concerns), engineers need powerful tools to identify the source of noise. SenSound has developed technology called "near-field acoustic holography" that uses multiple microphones and sophisticated data post-processing to develop multi-dimensional images of sound. Determining noise sources and paths in a complex assembly such as a dashboard, disc brake, or cooling system is an extremely difficult task; technology like this should make the job a bit easier and allow vehicles to be designed that are quieter for people both on the inside and outside of them.