Biomimetic optical directional microphone with structurally coupled diaphragms

A biomimetic directional microphone based on structurally coupled diaphragms and a fiber-optic detection system is presented. The microphone design aims to mimic the fly Ormia Ochracea’s ear structure and capture its performance. Experiments show that the designed microphone amplifies the interaural time difference ITD by 4.4 times and has a directional sensitivity of 6.5 s /deg. An important finding is that one needs to utilize both the rocking and translational vibration modes to obtain the appropriate ITD amplification without sacrifice of directional sensitivity. This work can serve as a foundation for realizing fly-ear inspired miniature directional microphones. © 2008 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.3043724