while browsing about, i've seen quite a few people lambasting bone conduction phone technology - and i'm not sure they get it. i actually think this is an important technology that will find some popular uses, especially with the hearing impaired.
in a nutshell, normal hearing works as soundwaves pass through the airwaves and are picked up by your eardrum which vibrates, and through some amazing analog to digital conversion, your brain is able to interpret these signals.
bone conduction works by passing these waves though the bones in your skull directly to the inner ear, and is able to bypass the normal process of amplifying the soundwaves for you to hear, thus taking away the interference of all other soundwaves coming in, and making it possible for those who can't hear as well the normal way to hear.
this works both ways. in fact Jabra headsets for some time have used a similar technology to transmit when you speak by detecting the bone vibrations from your jaw instead of the soundwaves coming out of your mouth.
at any rate, i can easily see this technology being used to create a bluetooth headset that is nothing more than an earplug, as well as a special class of cell phone to be marketed toward those with hearing problems, especially the elderly.
some links:
http://www.akibalive.com/archives/000506.html
Posted by Steve at February 3, 2004 11:45 AM | TrackBack
no coments
Posted by: joby at March 18, 2004 02:11 PM