FeONIC
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Hull, England |
|
Key people
|
Brian Smith (CEO) |
| Products | Hi-Fi Public Address Home cinema Loudspeakers |
| Website | www.feonic.com |
Feonic is a commercial company specialising in the design and development of magnetostrictive audio products as a spin-off from Hull University.
The products use a smart material that changes shape in a magnetic field. This material was developed for sonar devices by the US Navy but is now commercially available. The products developed by Feonic use the unique force created by the change in shape of this smart material to vibrate structures such as floors, windows, walls and even the acoustically conductive structures of ships to produce highly intelligible wide bandwidth sound.
The company's first consumer product, the patented SoundBug, led to the successful roll out of the Whispering Window® retail promotion solution in 2003. The Feonic Presenter (a professional “large” soundbug) is also available.
The company has developed a revolutionary new range of “F Drives” to create flat panel speakers with various applications in the transport, pro audio, domestic, consumer and commercial markets.
The applications for these products are varied and include:
The company sees its product range as an alternative to the traditional cone speaker or high amplitude audio exciters. Feonic drives result in non destructive vibrations and can be transmitted through existing or custom made structures and have various advantages over conventional technology, including:
Feonic has continually refined and improved the technology, leading to an international, and growing, patent portfolio built over the past 15 years. The technology can also be applied in other areas such as noise reduction and security.
Feonic, based on premises at the University of Hull, has completed manufacturing investment in its current range of products, the F Drives, with the first sales occurring in 2008.
The timeline below summarises how Feonic has developed:
1999 Newlands Scientific plc was incorporated to provide research, development and consultancy services in magnetostrictive devices and exploit the possibilities of Terfenol-D.
2000 Brian Smith was appointed as Managing Director and the product development process began.
2002 Soundbug launched at CeBit (the world’s largest technology trade show) and Feonic technology trademarked.
2003 Newlands Scientific develops Whispering Window and launches Presenter. Soundbug wins Red Dot design award.
2004 Newlands Scientific becomes Feonic plc and wins UK electronics industry design award for best use of technology.
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