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Headset Uses Bone-Conduction Technology

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the something-to-jaw-about dept.

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.

4 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Science Museum Exhibit by Jazzer_Techie · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I saw an exhibit with this kind of technology about 10 years ago in a science museum. In their variation, you put your forehead on a postage-stamp sized metal plate, and then you suddenly heard a voice. I remember thinking that it was pretty cool. Definitely a good idea to put it in a cellphone headset. I do wonder a bit about ensuring sufficient contact with the jaw. In the exhibit I saw, you bent over to put your head on the plate, and thanks to the heaviness of the human head, there was a decent amount of pressure against the plate. No idea exactly how much you need to make sure it gets transferred to the bone, but I could see that being a bit of an issue.

    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.

  2. The Original Bone Phone by El+Torico · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Anyone else think of the original Bone Phone?

    http://www.pocketcalculatorshow.com/magicalgadget/ index3.html#bonefone

    Looks like it could make a comeback as a combination mobile phone and mp3 player; then again, probably not.

    --
    In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is usually crucified.
  3. Old news by m.dillon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This stuff has existed for decades. I had one of these for my cellphone ten years ago. It works great, sounds like you are talking from a quiet room instead of a car whipping down the freeway, even when you ARE in a car whipping down the freeway.

    It certainly isn't worth $200, though. We are talking about maybe $2 worth of materials here, probably even less.

    -Matt

  4. It's a bit conspicuous... by Krokus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Bone microphone technology has been around for quite some time in the two-way radio communications biz, and it's much more discreet.

    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).