Immersive experimentation in a wave propagation laboratory.

A wave propagation laboratory is proposed which enables the study of the interaction of broadband signals with complex materials. A physical experiment is dynamically linked to a numerical simulation in real time through transmitting and recording transducer surfaces surrounding the target. The numerical simulation represents an arbitrarily larger domain, allowing experiments to be performed in a total environment much greater than the laboratory experiment itself. Specific applications include the study of non-linear effects or wave propagation in media where the physics of wave propagation is not well understood such as the effect of fine scale heterogeneity on broadband propagating waves.