At present, earphones have become an indispensable product for every young person. With the development of the times, people have become increasingly dependent on headphones.
This is not only because it can help the transmission of sound, but more importantly, as the sense of boundaries between work and social life disappears, headphones have become an important mediator between public and private spaces.
In the fast-paced life, listening to music with the headphones has become an extremely pleasant thing. Wearing headphones, you can freely immerse yourself in your own world without affecting others.
So far, earphones have undergone development and changes from wired to wireless, and the latest technology has been able to transmit audio without earphones, which is undoubtedly a kind of huge change in the way of sound transmission.
On November 13, the Israeli technology company Novelo Systems developed a new audio technology that allows people to experience a different sound transmission method of enjoying music without wearing headphones.
This debut desktop device SoundBeamer can transmit sound directly to the listener’s brain without earphones. In addition, Noveto Systems said that they will introduce the smaller devices to consumers before Christmas 2021.
This makes people can’t help but wonder, will science fiction scenes come true again?
With the development of technology, earphones have undergone many improvements. The first pair of earphones was created by Ezra Gilliland in the 1880s. But it has nothing to do with music. Its main use was for telephone operators in the 19th century, not for listening to music.
It weighs about 4~5.5 kg, which was already a very portable communication device at that time. When using it, you need to put it on your shoulders, just like putting a speaker box on your shoulders, but today’s earphones have already changed in weight and shape.
2014-2018 is the period of wireless and intelligent earphones. Until 2014, the first type of true wireless Bluetooth earphones Dash Pro was designed, but the sales of this product is not high. Two years later, AirPods was released, and the true wireless Bluetooth smart earphones ushered in an explosive period.
AirPods is the best-selling accessory product in Apple’s history. Since its release, it has accounted for 85% of the sales of the wireless headset market, and the user praise rate has reached 98%. Its sales data indicates that the design of earphones tends to be a wave of wireless intelligence.
Today, the SoundBeamer developed by Noveto Systems allows people to experience a different sound transmission way of enjoying music, completely free from the shackles of earphones. You can imagine a “bubble” of your own voice, where you can listen to music, watch movies, or play games at a loud volume without disturbing others even if you don’t wear the earphones. This is undoubtedly a huge improvement.
The Working Principle
According to the report, the technology uses a 3D sensing module and sends audio through ultrasound to generate sound in the ear. What’s more, it can locate and track the user’s location.
The sound is available in stereo or 360-degree spatial 3D model, resulting in a 360-degree sound around the listener. the SoundBeame uses a large number of ultrasonic transmitters that can form sound beams, which are installed on the equipment in the form of a two-dimensional grid.
Ultrasonic audio is out of the range of human hearing. But when the ultrasonic waves from the SoundBeamer come in contact with your head, there will form an audible “sound pocket.”
This “sound pocket” gives you the sensation that you’re listening to music on a speaker, but nobody else can hear it. In this way, it can create a kind of surreal experience.
Effect of Experience
According to the reporter who has experienced this new technology, the effect of the SoundBeamer is very special, as the sound source is located around the head. The system tracks the listener’s head position in real-time and directs the focused sound beam into the ear. Through SoundBeamer, the sound heard is so close that it seems to be coming from the ears.
At the same time, the 3D effect is very obvious, the sound sounds like it comes from the front, but also from the back and above. He thought that the sound spread like this would also be heard by other people, but the magical thing was that the people next to him could hardly hear the sound.
“You don’t believe it because it sounds like a speaker, but no one else can hear it,” SoundBeamer Product Manager Ayana Wallwater said. “It’s supporting you and you’re in the middle of everything. It’s happening around you.”
“You don’t need to tell the device where you are. It’s not streaming to one exact place. It follows you wherever you go,” she continued. “This is what we dream of: A world where we get the sound you want. You don’t need to disturb others and others don’t get disturbed by your sound. But you can still interact with them.”
Advantages and Disadvantages
- Reduce the likelihood of ear damage
Wearing earphones for a long time can cause damage to the ears. Since the earphone mechanically presses the ear canal opening, it may cause ischemia and inflammation of the ear canal opening, damage the hair cells of the cochlea, affect hearing, cause hearing loss, tinnitus and other symptoms. But the SoundBeamer can effectively reduce the occurrence of this situation.
- Outstanding sound
At present, Bluetooth earphones have strong competitiveness in the market due to their portability. But because there is no line source to directly transmit data, there will be frame loss, and the sound quality is not as good as the SoundBeamer’s 3D stereo sound.
- The lack of market and technology
However, because the SoundBeamer is based on a new audio technology, the price advantage is not obvious. Moreover, this is the first product to use ultrasonic technology and 3D modules, there may be some controversies in terms of technology maturity and market acceptance.
In the modern life, the earphones can be seen everywhere. With the development of time, earphone products have gradually matured from the first two small speakers hanging on the ear. No matter the type of earphones, the way of wearing them, and even the core pronunciation unit, there have been many changes.
As far as the current headset technology is concerned, high sound quality is no longer a technical difficulty. Perhaps the most noteworthy thing is how many different technological elements can be integrated in the sound.
The invention of the SoundBeamer has a major advancement in the way people receive sound. We believe that in the future, new equipment with high-tech will come to us at any time.
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