Amazon patents revolutionary new headphone technology

by Richard Howard

August 2, 2016

0

0

0

0

0

Email this article to a friend

Noise cancelling headphones are about to get much safer.

For some people, noise cancelling headphones are pretty much second to oxygen in terms of importance. They are pretty sweet: not only do they allow you to enjoy your music more, they block out the cacophony of city life and, let’s be honest, allow you to avoid having to talk to that guy on the subway who thinks that 7am is the perfect time to have a pseudo-intellectual conversation about the universe.

What they aren’t, however, is safe. Just like how they can completely mute the sound of a jackhammer or an obnoxious street salesperson, they also prevent you from hearing sirens, shouted warnings or traffic. A patent awarded to Amazon on July 9 outlines a headphone that offers a solution to this problem.

According to the patent, the headphones will automatically switch off the sound and any active noise-cancelling technology when presented with certain sound patterns, frequencies and even keywords, made possible by microphones built into the earpads. While the possibilities with respect to safety concerns are definitely invaluable, it will allow for pretty cool convenience features as well – the technology could conceivably be taught to recognize your name, reacting to someone trying to get your attention.

As the patent is for the technology and not any specific piece of hardware, it might be a while before we see (or hear) these on your favourite high-end headphones. We think it’ll be worth the wait. [h/t /r/technology]

Tags: Tech, News, Amazon, headphones, noise cancelling, patent

0

0

0

0

0

Email this article to a friend