Apple Bone Conduction Hybrid System Solves Drawbacks, Reveals Patent

[Clix Pix]

I'm also a gigantic fan of the AfterShockz (sp?). I also workout/run/etc. a lot and won't wear anything else. Not greatest quality sound, but I still find them so enjoyable. I've had the one I bought three years ago and battery still lasts forever (8-10 hours) as I do full day bike rides. Great for making calls while working out. Ok, enough promo (I have no connection to them at all).

Another fan of AfterShockz here, too -- I don't use them for running or workouts, though, I use them for just normal everyday listening to music or when watching a video.... There are those of us who need to depend upon bone conduction hearing aids/bone conduction sound processors and/or bone conduction headphones, as for various reasons the typical air conduction process through which most people hear is ineffective.

It's interesting to see that Apple is working on developing some sort of hybrid combo and I would guess that, yes, this is for those who will want to wear the special glasses for augmented reality and all that.

 

[kasei]

 

[goobot]

Is there any studies showing the potential negative impacts on your body with this tech?

 

[Rainshadow]

I’m surprised by that lack on creativity on the comments here. Though perhaps it’s because I don’t understand the tech well. Add some Apple magic and this seems very plausible and shockingly interesting tech for a long future set of Apple Glasses.

I don’t see a full EarPod, but perhaps a small, nearly invisible speakerdropping into the ear from the glasses arm, the arms being used as the transducer locations etc. it’s one area I’ve been confused about the Apple glasses. Sure you can do all communications visually, but sound that no one else can hear because of the bone technology would be great. It all just seems perfect for such an application.
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Is there any studies showing the potential negative impacts on your body with this tech?

Vibrations on your head? Really? If you want to split hairs, there are studies showing just about anything is bad for your health, but come on. Our heads And jaws receive vibrations Constantly - any sound wave. I’m sure that some people may get headaches or some such nonsense but people get the same thing from screens.

I don’t know. It’s a fair question, but I just always roll my eyes at folks asking for decades of research every time an advancement in tech comes around (I know this has been around for a while - but you get the idea) YMMV

 

[Clix Pix]

Is there any studies showing the potential negative impacts on your body with this tech?

If you mean bone conduction -- well, I've been wearing bone conduction hearing aids since I was six years old -- and I am now --ahem -- 75 years old, so that's a long time and I'm still here, still healthy!

 

[Neodym]

Vibrations on your head? Really? If you want to split hairs, there are studies showing just about anything is bad for your health, but come on. Our heads And jaws receive vibrations Constantly - any sound wave. I’m sure that some people may get headaches or some such nonsense but people get the same thing from screens.

I don’t know. It’s a fair question, but I just always roll my eyes at folks asking for decades of research every time an advancement in tech comes around (I know this has been around for a while - but you get the idea) YMMV

Indeed a fair question, as advancements in tech always bear a certain risk on human health - sometimes only discovered years or even decades later.

Regarding this specific tech advancement: I think it’s a difference whether unspecified vibrations reach your body all of the time (usually dampened by tissue, flesh and blood) or whether they are intentionally applied directly by some tech.

Joggers wear shock-dampening shoes to protect their joins. Nightly teeth grinding is known to have a negative impact on your jaw joint over time. War veterans can develop terrible tremors, sometimes full body (To my knowledge it’s not fully clear whether that’s only due to psychological reasons or whether long-term vibrations from both friendly and enemy fire plays a role there as well).

I think there could be a chance that prolonged, directly-applied bone vibrations can have negative impact onto (parts of) your body over time. Especially with people aging and bones becoming increasingly brittle. Normally associated only with elder people, but those who age with Apple products may be more open to use tech at higher ages.

Besides: Imagine all those lawyers only waiting to sue Apple if there’d be a chance that some Apple tech may have negative impact on someone.

I know I’ll try to avoid any gen.1 (and perhaps even gen.2) on such technology, but of course I will applaud you for volunteering for the role of the guinea pig 🙂
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If you mean bone conduction -- well, I've been wearing bone conduction hearing aids since I was six years old -- and I am now --ahem -- 75 years old, so that's a long time and I'm still here, still healthy!

Thanks for the anecdotal data point. However, it’s unfortunately just that: anecdotal. Different people can react very differently to the same impact.

 

[Analog Kid]

So we all know Apple patents tech they never bring to market, but does anyone know how often we see patents before the tech ships? Companies usually do a pretty good job of making sure patent filings don’t give up future product plans and I can’t think of an example of a patent I’ve seen here first that I later saw on stage. Just not sure if that’s because my memory sucks, these sight always highlight the most outlandish patents, or because Apple is careful not to pre-announce through government filings.

Basically, does seeing the patent in the press strongly indicate that this is a technology Apple isn‘t pursuing?

 

[Rainshadow]

Indeed a fair question, as advancements in tech always bear a certain risk on human health - sometimes only discovered years or even decades later.

Regarding this specific tech advancement: I think it’s a difference whether unspecified vibrations reach your body all of the time (usually dampened by tissue, flesh and blood) or whether they are intentionally applied directly by some tech.

Joggers wear shock-dampening shoes to protect their joins. Nightly teeth grinding is known to have a negative impact on your jaw joint over time. War veterans can develop terrible tremors, sometimes full body (To my knowledge it’s not fully clear whether that’s only due to psychological reasons or whether long-term vibrations from both friendly and enemy fire plays a role there as well).

I think there could be a chance that prolonged, directly-applied bone vibrations can have negative impact onto (parts of) your body over time. Especially with people aging and bones becoming increasingly brittle. Normally associated only with elder people, but those who age with Apple products may be more open to use tech at higher ages.

Besides: Imagine all those lawyers only waiting to sue Apple if there’d be a chance that some Apple tech may have negative impact on someone.

I know I’ll try to avoid any gen.1 (and perhaps even gen.2) on such technology, but of course I will applaud you for volunteering for the role of the guinea pig 🙂
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Thanks for the anecdotal data point. However, it’s unfortunately just that: anecdotal. Different people can react very differently to the same impact.

I agree, however your examples of “shock absorbing shoes” is more of a recent phenomenon and people have run for thousands of years without. Some would say those shoes are detrimental, physically.

Teeth grinding, while bad, is not a technology and is generally considered a symptom or a treatable quirk.

and wartime tremors from explosive ordinances just really fall short of a reasonable example to what many use as a hearing aid or novelty in their daily lives.

I’m not saying research isn’t welcome. I’m just always exhausted by folks asking for AGREED UPON science - which there will always be dissenting views and questions of research studies for the next 20 years. Does that mean we don’t look to the future? That’s a personal opinion, and while some technologies may give me more pause, this type of technology doesn’t even come close to radio waves on my concern chart...

With that said, I don’t need a health concern to pass on Apple’s 1st gen products. 🙂

 

[Clix Pix]

Indeed a fair question, as advancements in tech always bear a certain risk on human health - sometimes only discovered years or even decades later.

Regarding this specific tech advancement: I think it’s a difference whether unspecified vibrations reach your body all of the time (usually dampened by tissue, flesh and blood) or whether they are intentionally applied directly by some tech.

Joggers wear shock-dampening shoes to protect their joins. Nightly teeth grinding is known to have a negative impact on your jaw joint over time. War veterans can develop terrible tremors, sometimes full body (To my knowledge it’s not fully clear whether that’s only due to psychological reasons or whether long-term vibrations from both friendly and enemy fire plays a role there as well).

I think there could be a chance that prolonged, directly-applied bone vibrations can have negative impact onto (parts of) your body over time. Especially with people aging and bones becoming increasingly brittle. Normally associated only with elder people, but those who age with Apple products may be more open to use tech at higher ages.

Besides: Imagine all those lawyers only waiting to sue Apple if there’d be a chance that some Apple tech may have negative impact on someone.

I know I’ll try to avoid any gen.1 (and perhaps even gen.2) on such technology, but of course I will applaud you for volunteering for the role of the guinea pig 🙂
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Thanks for the anecdotal data point. However, it’s unfortunately just that: anecdotal. Different people can react very differently to the same impact.

Bone conduction technology has been around for a long, long time and I daresay it is considered to be pretty safe. People who wear bone-conduction hearing aids and devices on a daily basis -- sometimes as much as ten hours a day -- seem to manage to have survived through the years, some using the devices from babyhood. It can make all the difference when it comes to developing early speech and listening/interpretation of speech -- i.e., communication skills -- which can then have a profound impact on an individual's entire life.

I don't think that someone putzing around maybe an hour or two a day or a few minutes at a time here-and-there with a pair of AR glasses with a hybrid combo of bone conduction and air conduction really has anything to worry about.

 

[Hyperchaotic]

This patent doesn't show that Apple have developed anything of the sort, only that they may have. It shows that they registered a patent.

All big companies I worked in, like Cisco, gave employees a bonus for applying for a patent and a bigger bonus later if it was approved. Many of the patents registered were something we had come up with in our sleep and taken directly to the company legal dept next day where we got assistance writing up an application and submitting it.

 

[araadt]

Joggers wear shock-dampening shoes to protect their joins. Nightly teeth grinding is known to have a negative impact on your jaw joint over time. War veterans can develop terrible tremors, sometimes full body (To my knowledge it’s not fully clear whether that’s only due to psychological reasons or whether long-term vibrations from both friendly and enemy fire plays a role there as well).

I think there could be a chance that prolonged, directly-applied bone vibrations can have negative impact onto (parts of) your body over time. Especially with people aging and bones becoming increasingly brittle. Normally associated only with elder people, but those who age with Apple products may be more open to use tech at higher ages.

tl;dr summary (I jest):

 

[hortod1]

I'm also a gigantic fan of the AfterShockz (sp?). I also workout/run/etc. a lot and won't wear anything else. Not greatest quality sound, but I still find them so enjoyable. I've had the one I bought three years ago and battery still lasts forever (8-10 hours) as I do full day bike rides. Great for making calls while working out. Ok, enough promo (I have no connection to them at all).

I like my AfterShokz too. Find them better for music I already know (trusty workout playlist or whatever) but in situations where I want to listen and pay attention to what’s going on (podcast) they’re not so great. They’re my definite go-to when on the bike - being able to hear my surroundings is awesome

 

[urnotl33t]

Vibrations on your head? Really? If you want to split hairs,

I see what you did there...
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I know I’ll try to avoid any gen.1 (and perhaps even gen.2) on such technology,

After that iPad fiasco, I’d avoid Gen 3 as well. Granted, I set that aside when I got my S3 Watch and it’s been good (even after I broke it!). Granted, we had the S0/S1 situation...
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...explosive ordinances...

ordnance. No i. Very different things. Unless you mean combusting pastors and legal documents. In which case the former tends to be a hate crime and the latter tends to be arson. Both generally frowned upon.

 

[Paul Mcgrath]

iBone....?

that's funny.....I-bone
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Is there any studies showing the potential negative impacts on your body with this tech?

"Demon Seed" :Stella Immanuel

 

[quamsi]

As an autistic person, I can’t tolerate anything in my ear canals so have been using bone conduction headphones and I find them amazing. Many of my friends and family have switched after trying mine out. So I’m happy that Apple is looking into them. I hope the hybrid part is optional and they can be only over bone with nothing in the ear.

 

[LJGlik]

Sounds like the Bone Fone! I saved up for that for weeks, and wore it around my neck to listen to the radio. It came in a bone shaped carrying case, and I loved it. https://www.forcesofgeek.com/2014/08/the-technological-breakthough-of-1979.html

 

[Singin Hobo]

Sweet, now Lando can send me secret messages in our fight against the Empire