Harman patents futuristic flying robot speakers for VR applications

Harman has filed for a new patent that shows a robotic speaker in action. It was filed with the US Patent Office under the "mobile speaker system for virtual reality environments" moniker.

According to the patent, the company would map VR soundscapes to robotic speakers which would either drive or fly to better represent the direction and movement of sounds. As of now, the VR headset relies on headphones to generate 3D audio that creates an illusion of a surround sound.

Well, Harman would still use headphones, but they will come in handy for internal monologues. As described in the patent, the new system will make interactions more realistic.

Also, the idea is to place such devices for public or group VR experiences than catering to using the headset at home, which makes sense as not a lot of people would be okay with a house full of moving speakers.

Well, this goes without saying that this is just a patent, and there's no certainty that it would make it to the production stage. Also, the company will have to take care of the noise coming from these moving speakers. But, if the device comes to fruition, it would be interesting to see how practical it actually is.