A system and method for measuring material properties of a medium includes producing a multi-directional wave field in the medium and detecting, with a detection system capable of detecting wave fields propagating in a medium, the multi-directional wave field in at least two spatial dimensions over at least one time instance. The system and method also include determining a lowest wave speed, calculating at least one of wave speed and material properties of the medium, and generating a report indicating the at least one of wave speed and material properties of the medium.
