Bone Conduction: Bringing In A New Way Of Hearing The World

The new way to feel the rhythm is by using the new bone conduction technology. Bone conduction is now being implemented into devices such as headsets and sunglasses so you can really enjoy the music without damaging your hearing. How is Bone Conduction possible? Bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner ear via your skull and it can be used with individuals with normal or impaired hearing. When you wear the conventional earphones, you are exposing yourself to sound levels as high as 120 decibels, which is not the best thing for your ears. A study in 2010 showed that one fifth of teenagers that listen to music via headphones or earphones had partially lost some of their hearing ability.

With bone conduction, you can go for a jog while listening to Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber (Shudders) or Metallica without risking your hearing or actually risk not hearing a 27 ton articulated truck coming down the road. Bone conduction gadgets have been designed to transmit sound directly to the innermost part of the ear that sends nerve impulses to the brain. Sound waves can be transmitted in different ways and not just through the air but also via the bones in your head. When the bones vibrate, the sound arrived at the cochlea, exactly as it would by going through the middle ear and eardrum, and therefore as a result the nerve impulses are transmitted to your brain.

This technology was discovered many moons ago and some say Mr. Ludwig Van Beethoven use to attach a rod to his piano and then connected it to his head, so that it transmitted the vibration of his playing directly to his cochlea as he had suffered hearing loss previously. The same method is applied today but you can sync your bone conduction headset or sunglasses via Bluetooth to your phone.

Are they safe is a question many people have asked and are they a good alternative to earphones? Well, according to Dr. Deborah Price who has a strong title as Vice-chair of the Audiology Foundation of America, she claims they are “Very safe”.

Now, how about the sound quality? This where things come become blurry for bone conductive gadgets as it is a relative new technology that is being used, it still isn’t perfected. Some users have complained that the sound just isn’t as good as with conventional air conduction. Scientists and inventors have been trying to improve the quality of sound and progress has been promising. Chinavasion has jumped on the bone conduction bandwagon and have already a pair of cool Men In Black/Matrix style sunglasses with bone conduction technology built in.