World's First Tractor Beam Uses Sonic Waves to Hold and Levitate Objects

First Posted: Oct 28, 2015 08:35 AM EDT

Does a tractor beam sound more like science fiction than reality? That's exactly what researchers have now created. They've built a novel sonic tractor beam that can lift and move objects using sound waves.

"It was an incredible experience the first time we saw the object held in place by the tractor beam," said Asier Marzo, one of the researchers, in a news release. "All my hard work has paid off; it's brillian."

The researchers used an array of 64 miniature loudspeakers to create high-pitch and high-intensity sound waves. The tractor beam itself works by surrounding the object with high-intensity sound. This, in turn, creates a force field that keeps the objects in place. By carefully controlling the output of the loudspeakers, the object can either be held in place, moved or rotated.

The researchers actually showed off three different shapes of acoustic force fields as tractor beams. The first was an acoustic force field that resembled a pair of fingers or tweezers. The second was an acoustic vortex, and the third is best described as a high-intensity cage that holds an object in place from all directions.

"In our device we manipulate objects in mid-air and seemingly defy gravity," said Sriram Subramanian, one of the researchers. "Here we individually control dozens of loudspeakers to tell us an optimal solution to generate an acoustic hologram that can manipulate multiple objects in real-time without contact."

The findings could be huge when it comes to transporting delicate objects and assembling them. A miniature version could actually grip and transport drug capsules or microsurgical instruments through living tissue.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Want to see for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.