Headset Uses Bone-Conduction Technology 135
Wired reports that a new headset is on the way to solve all those background noise problems you have had with your cell phone in crowded areas. This new bluetooth headset uses "bone-conduction" technology that converts vibrations from you jaw into sound. The article claims it should be available as early as later this year for around $200.
What if.. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What if.. (Score:3, Funny)
What if you're chewing gum while talking?
Not a problem ... you see, all those idiots who think they look so uber-cool using a bluetooth headset can't even chew gum and WALK, never mind talk. And for those who exceptions, it not like anyone on the other end is listening anyway ...
Re:What if.. (Score:3, Funny)
Everyone was sitting round showing of their latest geek toys. The short wave radio that fits in a matchbox, a GPS unit fitted into a pen, a working two-way pager/cell phone combo, that sort of stuff.
So its the turn of this guy from the MIT Media Lab. He taps on the back of his hand a few times as if he is typing on a keypad, then he starts talking. Seeing that we are not at all impressed he says "oh hold on have to put them on speaker phone". An
Re:What if.. (Score:1, Funny)
Re:What if.. (Score:1, Interesting)
I drive through 3 counties about 3 days a week visiting clients and fixing network/software/hardware issues, logging ~90 miles a day.
Re:What if.. (Score:1)
even meaningless conversations distract you, let alone talking to clients who you need to pay extra attention too.
and having a phone conversation is more distracting than a real-life one with a passenger. studies have shown the lower-quality audio from a phone requires more concentration to interpret than live speech.
just some facts, not judging you. I've driven while drunk which is only a little bit more responsible than your acti
Re:What if.. (Score:2)
I saw the headline for that study recently. I don't think it applies in this situation - he said that he drives between 3 counties. In most states, that would be a LOT of straight-stretch uninterrupted driving. Not much thinking required, and the only thing to injure would be a stray deer or birro. Using a cellphone wouldn't affect his ability to drive in a straight line (not as much as a drunken person, at least), and he'
Re:What if.. (Score:1)
Re:What if.. (Score:2)
This is simply a matter of seeing what you are looking for. My ride is low enough to the ground I don't really see the faces of larger SUV drivers. At least not without looking up there specifically. As a result, nearly every single time I see someone on a cell phone in a vehicle, it's someone in a minivan or sedan. Oddly enou
Re:What if.. (Score:5, Funny)
What will they hear on the other end?
It's like a koan, man. . .
Re:What if.. (Score:2)
great! (Score:3, Insightful)
Wonderful! We needed more ways for people to hold their private conversations at ballgames, concerts, theaters, etc..
I wonder if you have to keep the volume turned down to keep the vibration from shaking your teeth loose.
Re:great! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:great! (Score:2)
Re:great! (Score:5, Funny)
Wake me when they develop a bone induction foot-set for my shoe phone.
Re:great! (Score:2)
Would you beleive a small toy drum, two soup cans, and a spool of thread?
Re:great! (Score:1)
Re:great! (Score:3, Informative)
I actually have one of these and they work as described.
Re:great! (Score:2)
Re:great! (Score:2)
Re:great! (Score:2)
Re:great! (Score:2)
Has been available outside the US for a while now (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.2
Re:Has been available outside the US for a while n (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Has been available outside the US for a while n (Score:2)
The only thing about this that might be new is that it uses Bluetooth.
Re:Has been available outside the US for a while n (Score:2, Funny)
Science Museum Exhibit (Score:5, Interesting)
If you combined that with the sub-vocalization technology that can detect what you say as you speak silently, we might be able to rid society of noisy cellphone users. Now that's tech I can appreciate.
Re:Science Museum Exhibit (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Science Museum Exhibit (Score:1)
It'd be interesting to see cell phones broken up into two sensors/transmitters the size of a stamp and attached to adhesive. One would connect to your jawbone or throat and let you speak while the other would connect to the antenna near your ear.
Or you could have it like bluetooth phones today with the phone itself in your pocket with the aforementioned speaker/receiver attached to your body.
Re:Science Museum Exhibit (Score:2, Informative)
This picture not to scale (Score:2)
The image in TFA is incomprehensible to me. How big is that thing? Does it fit in your ear, do you hold it with two hands, does it attach to your head somehow?
This is one of those items for which I have no referent. A picture of someone using one would be most welcome.
Re:This picture not to scale (Score:2)
So it's not that big, and the part with the "antenna" goes in your (outer) ear.
What you jawing about? (Score:3, Funny)
Two Hundered? (Score:4, Insightful)
Personally, $200 for this seems a bit expensive, and I can get closer to appearing more schizophrenic than when I'm wearing a bluetooth headset
Re:Two Hundered? (Score:2)
RTFA, this is for SPEAKING, not listening: It's sound FROM your jaw, to the headset.
The Original Bone Phone (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.pocketcalculatorshow.com/magicalgadget
Looks like it could make a comeback as a combination mobile phone and mp3 player; then again, probably not.
Re:The Original Bone Phone (Score:1)
That page you point out has a 1972 Gruen Teletime LCD Watch. I think they have the year wrong. Those things came along after LED watches. Real cool site though. Brings back memories...
Old news (Score:5, Interesting)
It certainly isn't worth $200, though. We are talking about maybe $2 worth of materials here, probably even less.
-Matt
Re:Old news (Score:2)
Re:Old news (Score:1)
26 Years Later (Score:1, Redundant)
But our's was way cooler... Shozbot! Nanoo nanoo.
It's a bit conspicuous... (Score:5, Interesting)
Bone microphones are sometimes used in the movie industry to communicate with actors/stunt people while on camera, when the person is too far away to reliably hear direction (if the person is dangling from a construction crane, for example).
Re:It's a bit conspicuous... (Score:2)
Yup. I remember trying out a few different consumer grade models marketed to ham radio operators in the mid 1990's.
As I recall, most of the cheap ones worked really badly. It took a great deal of fiddling to get them seated correctly, and when they were incorrectly seated one heard *only* hints of background noise and rustling. In order to insure that they worked, you basica
Do the 10 or 12 people... (Score:3, Insightful)
It doesnt replace the speaker, so 'only you hear it' it replaces/enhances the microphone so the person you're talking to can hear you instead of the loud area you're in. And i didnt even rtfa
Re:Do the 10 or 12 people... (Score:2)
Your .sig (Score:2, Informative)
The way I heard it: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is skiing.
Impact on Hearing Loss (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Impact on Hearing Loss (Score:1)
Motorola has this already? (Score:2)
Re:Motorola has this already? (Score:2)
Certainly nothing new... (Score:2, Informative)
Been around for a while (Score:3, Interesting)
Not new (Score:2)
2. Why not put bandpass filters that cut off outside of the dynamic range that can be generated by a human voice? This should cut a hell of a lot of the background noise.
A year later and I still think those googles were dorky as hell.
Swimming googles? (Score:3, Funny)
Google's getting into everything these days. Is that swim.google.com?
Do they sell goggles there?
sending a little message? (Score:2)
I love this! From the article:
Perhaps a little tongue-in-cheek?, tongue-in-cheekbone? I don't know what I am going to find more irritating... the fact that cell phone users can now more easily and efficiently annoy everyone else in loud environments, or the fact that they paid $200 for that
Wife just slapped me... (Score:5, Funny)
I just asked my wife if she'd be interested in talking on the bone phone....
...she didn't find it nearly as funny as I did.
\o/ (Score:1)
New? (Score:2)
Never tried one myself.
Re:New? (Score:1)
This headline. (Score:2)
Old tech revived (Score:2, Interesting)
Someone has to say it! (Score:1)
Re:Someone has to say it! (Score:1)
Did you mean if one has a boner?
Re:Someone has to say it! (Score:2)
No Patent! Prior Art Exists! (Score:1)
Re:No Patent! Prior Art Exists! (Score:1)
One Step Closer (Score:1)
SwiMP3 (Score:2)
See here. [amazon.com]
How do you reach the bone ? (Score:2)
Do you sound like a stranger with a better voice? (Score:3, Interesting)
If so, the person at the other end might not recognize you, because you would sound like a stranger... a stranger who has a richer, deeper voice than you.
If that's correct, the implications are interesting.
Does my voice really sound like that? (Score:1)
Old tech (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Old tech (Score:1)
Re:Old tech (Score:1)
Re:Old tech (Score:2)
I can hear it now vibrating through my jaw bone (Score:2)
Great! (Score:2)
Not exaclty new (Score:2)
Now if only they would ship to Europe...
What are the tech specs? (Score:2)
Codec (Score:1)
Yes, this looks a lot like the same idea as the Codec from Metal Gear Solid.
sollution to MP3 hearing damage? (Score:2, Interesting)
How is that relevant? I think it's very usefull.. and would love it for my MP3 player instead of wering a big headset to protect my ears [google.com]!
If it'd be a bit more compact, I'd certainly go out and buy one and enjoy my music without worrying to lose my hearing before I'm 30.
Re:sollution to MP3 hearing damage? (Score:2)
All those words in the same sentence... (Score:2)
Re:All those words in the same sentence... (Score:2)
Same as bone conduction hearing aids? (Score:2)
Bone MICROPHONE. Not Speakers (Score:3, Informative)
No, it's picking up sound from your skull when you speak - thus a bone MICROPHONE. As far as listening to calls, that still uses a speaker.
That's why sound is so clear - for the person listening to YOU talk, not the other way round.
very old tech? (Score:2)
I don't see why 50 year old tech should cost more than a few dollars. (Yes, sure they might be better than a WW2 tank mike, but USD 200 is preposterous).
The more things change... (Score:2)
A walkman the way it shoulda been - with good quality sound, under a pound! My father had one, and I loved it when I was a wee lad. (Alas, I could never remember to turn it off when done, so I wasn't allowed to use it much)
Re:The more things change... (Score:2)
Basically, they didn't work that well using "Bone Conduction" unless pressed hard against a bony surface.
And even then the audio quality suffered. I got the feeling that the developers didn't really understand it.
It's not that bone conduction is that suprising... You can see how it works by pressing your finger against a floppy drive to see if it's seeking. An old technique I learned long ago in noisy colocation environments to tell me if the disk really was being read. (You can head a flo
Perfect! (Score:2)
("Speaker for the Dead" reference)
Phone etiquette (Score:2)
Here's an idea, learn some fucking manners and don't use your phone in a crowd or while driving. And if you do use a phone while driving, consider drunk driving instead, it's safer.
This wouldn't work for me... (Score:1)
But is bone conduction very good for you? (Score:1)
Re:But is bone conduction very good for you? (Score:1)
bone/sound usefull medical tool (Score:3, Informative)
Where initial diagnosis of acoustic neuroma(tumours on nerves) need to often be made before referral to MRI test, the skilled doctor can actually detect changes in tuning fork pitch, when placed against the skull, when a tumor is present.
Seems like its gonna be a Jaw-dropping invention (Score:2)
Bone phone? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Effects of external noise? (Score:4, Informative)
The skull acts the same as a loudspeaker's enclosure (or a guitar body) - greatly amplifying low and medium frequency waves (try saying aaaa or mmmmmm with your hand on top of your head).
So if you pick up sound directly from the bone, you'll be recording the sound directly from its source, and background noises would be too weak compared to your own voice (except when a plane flies really low or you are at a really loud rock concert).
That's like putting a microphone inside a loudspeaker. Of course it will record noises, but only really loud ones will be of any significance.
Re:Effects of external noise? (Score:1)
Re:Alternatave Mics (Score:1)