LG's invisible speaker brings sound to any surface in your car

Aug 16, 2023

LG Display, the innovative arm of LG Electronics responsible for the company's cutting-edge rollable OLED TV and wraparound display tech, is at it again. Today, it announced a new superthin sound technology that can turn any surface inside your car into "invisible" speakers.

Known as the Thin Actuator Sound Solution (TASS), the tech forgoes all the bulky components that make up traditional speakers — drivers, magnets, cones, coils — in favor of what LG Display calls "film-type exciter technology" that comes in passport-sized panels (150mm x 90mm x 2.5mm) that can be embedded into a car's interior, such as dashboards, headliners, pillars, and headrests.

The company says that the thin TASS can vibrate off of almost any surface inside the car to create sound. And at just 30% of the weight and 10% of the thickness of conventional car speakers, this can open up all kinds of options for placement, which will lead to a more immersive sound experience, while also freeing up space inside door panels and other traditional automotive speaker placement locations.

"We have transformed the conventionally heavy and bulky speaker into a high-quality ‘invisible’ sound solution by using our cutting-edge technology to elevate space, design, and eco-friendly factors and provide a next-level sound experience like none before," said Yeo Chun-ho, vice president and head of the business development division at LG Display.

The company isn't alone in the race to rethink in-car audio. In 2021, Resonado Labs announced that its flat core speaker tech, which also reduces the size of conventional speakers, would be used in vehicles, including Airstream trailers.

LG Display is expecting to commercialize the TASS tech early next year, but if you’re among the nerdy hordes attending CES 2023 in January, you can get a sneak peek of the tech, for which the company has just won a CES 2023 Innovation Award in the In-Vehicle Entertainment & Safety category.