client
yamaha
text
short long
flat speaker
Prototyping directional sound with Yamaha’s thin, light, and flexible speaker technology.
We collaborated with Yamaha and Japan Creative to prototype a sound installation using Yamaha’s TLF (Thin, Light, Flexible) speaker technology. The result was an immersive experience that invites people to listen differently — where directionality, distance, and voice come together in a focused point of sound.
Yamaha’s TLF panels are just 1.5mm thick: almost paper-like in form, yet capable of emitting focused sound across long distances with surprising clarity. In collaboration with Yamaha and Japan Creative, we explored how this new material could shift the way we experience audio in physical space.
We developed an installation that made the technology both visible and audible. A thin metal frame supports an array of suspended TLF panels, each broadcasting a synthetic singing voice created using Yamaha’s VOCALOID technology. As visitors move through the space, the voices merge into a full choir at a precise point on the floor – an audible focal point created through the directional nature of the panels.
The design plays with perception. Rather than filling a space with ambient sound, the installation focuses it and creates a subtle, almost private experience within a public setting. Through hands-on workshops and close collaboration with the Yamaha team, we tuned the form and composition to emphasise both the technical and emotional potential of TLF.
At its core, the project asked a simple question: what happens when sound becomes as lightweight and controllable as light? TLF offers a response: inviting us to think differently about how sound can be shaped, shared, and experienced.
