Most noise-blocking headphones fall into two categories: they use some kind of material to absorb or scatter noise, or they use active cancellation that creates a signal to oppose the noise signal.

An electrostatic loudspeaker uses a thin plastic diaphragm residing between two perforated metal sheets (the grids or stator plates). The audio signal is applied to the grids out of phase.

The new ‘electrostatic speaker,’ set to enter automotive production later this year, shifts the fundamentals of a loudspeaker away from coils and cones almost exclusively towards a lightweight ...