How to wear headphones and not get hit by a van
This one's for the Deliveroo riders. Not all heroes wear capes - but they should all be wearing these headphones.
Bone conduction headphones enable you to listen to audio privately without plugging your ears.
Headphones can sometimes be a little tedious or intrusive - but not these. They're wireless; connect via Bluetooth, wrap around the neck and secure over the top of the ear. The speaker rests on the tragus, rather than inside the ear canal. This means that you can wear them comfortably for extended periods of time.
The bones in the middle ear deteriorate as we age, causing gradual hearing loss. Bone conduction devices such as hearing aids transmit vibrations through bones in the skull to the inner ear. These devices decode sound waves and convert them to vibrations, bypassing the area in the ear that has degraded to deliver audio information directly to the inner ear, which connects to the auditory nerve, which attaches to the brain. These headphones work in a similar way.
Because the ear canal isn't obstructed, you can use these headphones without inhibiting sound from the outside world. This makes them an exceptionally practical option for runners and cyclists, who need to be aware of their surroundings. Wearing noise-cancelling headphones in a busy, loud area can be quite overwhelming and potentially unsafe. These allow you to navigate through a bustling city without disrupting your equilibrium.
This product is good for listening to music, but the clarity and range do not live up to a good set of in-ear or over-ear headphones. They are however excellent for podcasts and spoken content, where a slight compromise in audio quality isn't an issue.
You can become engrossed in an audiobook whilst walking around the city, and take calls without touching your phone. You don't have to worry about losing your AirPods underneath a stranger's seat on the bus, or getting crushed by a Transit van because you were distracted.
We think these can be a useful bit of tech for anyone, but particularly joggers, cyclists and elderly people. There are some water-resistant bone conduction headphones on the market, which are a great option for swimmers.
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