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Google · Audio · Filed May 8, 2026 · USPTO published Nov 12, 2026 · This week's release
A New Google Patent Puts a Sound-Trapping Dome Over the Meeting Table
Google has filed a patent application for a rolling meeting station with a dome over the table. The dome sends a video call's audio down at the people sitting there and soaks up the rest, so coworkers nearby don't have to listen in.
- Publication number
- US 2026/0354574 A1(US20260354574A1)
- Applicant
- Google LLC
- Filed · Published
- May 8, 2026 · Nov 12, 2026
- Inventors
- Shokofeh Darbari, Christine Jean Wu
- Status when we published
- Waiting for an examiner
- Document
- 20 claims
- US classification
- 181/.5
- Parent application
- Claims priority from a provisional application 63803320 (filed May 9, 2025)
What Google's meeting-table sound dome does
Every time a coworker in an open office joins a video call, everyone sitting nearby ends up on the call too, whether they wanted to or not.
Google's patent application describes a rolling meeting station that tackles this with a dome hung over a small table. A speaker sits in the middle of the dome, and a dish-shaped panel bounces its sound straight down onto the people seated below. The inside of the dome is lined with sound-absorbing material, so less of the audio escapes into the rest of the room.
The setup also has a mount for a screen and camera, wheels so you can roll it between rooms, and a tabletop that can tilt upright so the whole thing fits through a doorway. Think of it as a small meeting nook on wheels.
A collaboration dome system includes a stand, a tabletop, an audio component, an acoustic dome, and an acoustic reflector.
Translation: The setup combines a desk, a support stand, speakers, and a sound shaping dome.
How the parabolic reflector aims sound down
The core claim covers a freestanding station. It has a stand with a base and an upright support arm, a tabletop attached to the base, and an acoustic dome (a curved shell) fixed to the top of the arm. An audio unit with speakers is also mounted on the arm.
Inside the dome sits an acoustic reflector, a sound-bouncing surface with a parabolic curve (the same kind of curve a satellite dish uses to focus signals). The audio unit sits inside the reflector, and the curve is meant to send the speakers' sound down toward the tabletop. The dome's inner surface can also carry a sound-absorbing liner, such as felt or foam, to cut echoes and catch stray sound.
The filing gives example sizes:
- Dome: 120 to 140 centimeters wide and 50 to 60 centimeters tall
- Reflector: 55 to 65 centimeters wide
- Dome's lower edge: 65 to 75 centimeters above the tabletop
- Liner: 5 to 20 millimeters thick
The description also sketches "sound zones." Audio is clear at the table and about 20 to 40 centimeters beyond it, at a medium level farther out, and low past that. Optional extras include microphones, a support arm that rises at least 20 centimeters, and a tabletop that pivots upright.
Why open offices could use this dome
If you work in an open office, you already know the problem: someone's video call becomes everyone's background noise. A dome that sends sound down at the people who need it, and soaks up the rest, offers a way to take a call at a shared desk without booking a room or putting on headphones.
The filing stresses portability. Wheels, a tabletop that tilts upright and a stand under two meters tall let it move between rooms and fit through standard doors. That points to a shared, movable meeting spot for hybrid teams. Remember that this is a patent application, so it describes an idea, not a product you can buy.
Google's eighth filing we've tracked in our Audio coverage since May follows work like a finger blocking the speaker and sharing sound location in calls.
Source: US 2026/0354574 A1 at the USPTO (PDF). Full patent text and figures are in the official publication.
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The drawings · 5 sheets
5 drawing sheets from US 2026/0354574 A1 · click any drawing to enlarge
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