- A wristwatch phone that lets you listen by sticking a
finger in your ear, an MP3 player that vibrates the bones in your skull
to play music that only you can hear -- these are some of the products
being developed using a technology called bone conduction that sends sound
waves through the bones around the ear.
-
- Bone-conduction technology has long been used in hearing
aids and other products for the hearing impaired, as well as in military
headsets. Recently, several commercial companies have embraced it for
products
aimed at the general public.
-
- A cell phone handset that lets users listen by pressing
it against their jaws is for sale in Japan and two other bone-conduction
products -- an MP3 player and a cell phone -- are in development. Similar
products that pick up vibrations when the wearer speaks are also on the
market.
-
- The human ear normally works by trapping sound waves
traveling through the air, amplifying them and turning them into signals
the brain can understand. But bone conduction sends the waves through the
jaw or skull bones instead, bypassing nature's air conduction
system.
-
- "The noise comes from the conduction of the energy
through the bone," said Brian Smith, managing director of Feonic,
a company using the technology. "You're conducting straight to the
inner ear from the outside."
-
- That may sound a bit scary, but Deborah Price, a doctor
of audiology and vice chair of the Audiology Foundation of America, says
bone conduction is "very safe."
-
- Bone conduction can allow for clearer hearing in noisy
areas, according to Sanyo Electric, which produces the Sanyo TS41 handset.
On sale in Japan since January, it has a "sonic speaker" that
vibrates the bones when placed on the jawbone or elsewhere on the user's
head.
-
- "Recommended use for the bone-conducting phone is
to hold it on the upper part of the jaw bone around the ear (and) close
an ear with a finger," said Ryan Watson, a Sanyo spokesman. "Even
in a loud area, with one ear closed to shut out the background noise, the
bone-conduction phone goes right in the inner ear, allowing the user to
hear clearly."
-
- In a quiet place, the clamshell phone can be opened and
used the usual way, but in a loud environment, the caller can close the
phone and press a button to use the bone speaker instead, Watson
said.
-
- But one observer questioned whether the bone speaker
really provides for clearer hearing. Michael Oryl, who reviewed the phone
for Mobile Burn, said he was disappointed with the phone's quality.
-
- "It just seemed as if a speakerphone-type function
was in use," Oryl wrote in the review. "No matter where we placed
the handset on our cheeks or jaws, nothing special seemed to
happen."
-
- Watson responded that if a caller uses the bone speaker
rather than the ordinary function when they are in a quiet place, it is
possible people nearby could overhear the conversation. "It's the
same as with a conventional handset. If you are close to the person, you
can possibly hear through the speaker," Watson said, adding the
company
has no plans to sell the phone outside Japan.
-
- NTT DoCoMo is working on a phone that uses the wearer's
index finger in place of a headphone or speaker. The FingerWhisper phone,
which has not yet been released, is worn like a watch, with a speaker on
the inner side of the wrist. You stick your index finger in your ear and
the phone sends vibrations through the bones in your finger. The vibrations
are converted to sound in your ear. To talk, you speak into the microphone
on the inside of the watch-like phone.
-
- British industrial design engineering student Sam James
has designed a prototype bone-conduction MP3 player with support from
British
company Feonic.
-
- Called Soundwaves, the player is connected to goggles
so swimmers can listen to music underwater. How it works: An MP3 player
sits at the back of the head and small boxes on the temples vibrate the
skull, sending sound waves into the inner ear. This allows the player to
be used underwater.
-
- "You hear sound in a completely different way and
you can hear it when you're underwater," said Brian Smith of Feonic.
"The people that have heard it say that the music (sounds like it)
is inside their head."
-
- Smith said the Soundwaves prototype still needs to be
streamlined and further tested. Feonic is seeking a partner to fund
continued
development and bring the product to market where it might be adapted for
bicyclists or joggers who want to keep their ears clear to hear oncoming
traffic. And Feonic is working to create helmets for firefighters,
construction
workers and others that would use the technology for communications rather
than music.
-
- All these products use bone conduction to let the person
with the device hear better or in new ways. But a San Francisco company
has recently launched a cell phone headset that uses bone conduction to
guarantee a clearer signal for the person on the other end of the
line.
-
- The Jawbone headset, developed by Aliph, detects the
vibrations caused when the wearer speaks. It then compares the speech
patterns
with other sound picked up by traditional microphones and eliminates sounds
other than the speaker. As a result, the person getting the calls hears
little background noise even if the wearer calls from a very loud location.
It sells for $150.
-
- Another cell phone earpiece on the market uses bone
conduction
to pick up and convey the sound of the wearer's voice to the person
receiving
the call. The Voiceducer Ear Microphone by Temco Japan senses the
vibrations
caused by the wearer's speech through a combination headphone and
microphone
placed in the ear. This means the person using the product can talk through
just a headphone, with no need for a mouthpiece.
-
- Such uses of bone conduction have not become common,
though, according to Alex Asseily, an Aliph co-founder. That is because
conversation picked up by bone conduction is not as clear as that picked
up by a normal microphone, he said.
-
- "The signal you're picking up with the bone sensor
does not really sound like good speech," Asseily said. "It sounds
a bit muffled." The Temco website recommends using the product in
situations when the wearer's mouth cannot be obstructed. Temco could not
be reached for comment.
-
- While the consumer applications of bone-conduction
technology
are still being explored and perfected, those working with it are impressed
by its possibilities.
-
- "The whole idea of bone conduction is really quite
exciting," said Feonic's Smith. "There's huge
potential."
-
- © Copyright 2004, Lycos, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
-
- http://wired.com/news/technology/
- 0,1282,64963,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4
|
