MEMS microphones from the startup Vesper will make voice-enabled gadgets far more durable.
The proliferation of portable, voice-enabled gadgets like Amazon’s Tap speaker and Doppler Labs’s smart, wireless earbuds enables us to play music, search the Web, and answer phone calls around the house and on the go using verbal commands. But because these devices are susceptible to damage from dirt and moisture and last only a few hours per battery charge, we don’t use them as much as we might.
Boston startup Vesper has devised a solution: miniature piezoelectric microphones that use a cantilever structure to harvest energy from sound and promise to be more durable and energy-efficient than conventional microphones. Vesper says that once its microphones are incorporated into gadgets, which will happen later this year, we should be able to use our voice-enabled devices outdoors and in inclement weather with less worry, for days on a single charge.
To demonstrate its microphones’ toughness, Vesper plunges them into beer and soda; envelops them in hot steam infused with cooking oil; subjects them to simulated dust storms; and drops them from heights onto hard surfaces (see videos above and below). The microphones, which are about the size of two sesame seeds laid side by side, aren’t indestructible, but they are water-, dust-, and shock-resistant and maintain similar performance after Vesper’s stress tests, whereas conventional microphones experience significant signal loss.
Conventional microphones measure sound using a flexible diaphragm that vibrates in proximity to a rigid backplate. The diaphragm requires a constant charge, and the air gap between it and the backplate leaves the microphone vulnerable to harm from particles and water (though companies guard against this by covering them with mesh and rubber membranes).
