IT MAY be inspired by a humble fly, but a sensor just a couple of centimetres in diameter could turn out to be the best microphone yet for pinpointing the source of a sound. The device could be added to hearing aids or mounted on autonomous robotic vehicles to locate cries for help during disaster relief efforts.
Humans detect slight differences in the timing of sound waves as they arrive at each eardrum and use this to reconstruct where a sound is coming from. However, the differences are only noticeable because our eardrums are at least a few centimetres apart.…
