Ludwig van Beethoven is a pioneer in more ways than one. Having gone deaf when he was approaching thirty, the German composer had found an alternative way of perceiving certain sounds that he played on the piano. His solution: clench a stick between your teeth and hold the other end against the soundboard of your instrument.
A technique that allowed him to distinguish the vibrations of the latter through the jaw and thus distinguish the sounds. Actually, Beethoven used the principle of bone conduction.
The latter is currently seeing renewed interest from certain headphone and earphone manufacturers, from Tayogo to Creative Labs to Shokz, one of the first companies to develop bone conduction technology.
Listen through the bones
Usually, for a sound to be transmitted to the brain, a sound wave passes through the outer ear canal and causes the eardrum to vibrate. The vibrations of this wave reach the ossicles that send them to the inner ear. This is where the wave is converted into a nerve signal that is transmitted to the brain.
In fact, this device makes it possible to develop open hearing systems that do not require the insertion of earphones into the ears. This allows you to clearly hear the noises of the environment (horns, car engine, etc.), thanks to the fact that the ears are free of any obstruction, preserving the perception of the sounds emitted through the bone.
Multiple fields of application
Also, bone conduction works perfectly underwater, because sound waves don’t travel through air. It can also be a credible alternative for people who are hearing impaired.
In addition to entertainment, the nature of this technology allows it to be applied to different use cases. In particular professionals: certain companies, Carrefour or Renault, have it used by their employees who evolve in the factory by providing them with bone conduction helmets. This allows them to communicate while remaining attentive to the noises of the sometimes dangerous machines that surround them.
A technology that still needs to evolve
While bone conduction has practical advantages and has improved in recent years, it still has room for improvement. “Improvements can still be made in the sound quality”, which still suffers from comparison with that developed by a helmet where the ears are isolated, acknowledges Xinnan Mao.
The latter evokes as avenues of progress the arrival of noise reduction functions in future headphones, as well as functions aimed at improving the level of bass and restricting sound leakage.
“Especially for sports, bone conduction headphones are great add-on products for closed-back model owners,” says Tina Lai.
Source: BFM TV
