There are two ways of transmitting the sound heard by the ear, one is the usual air transmission and the other is the bone transmission. We are all familiar with air transmission. When we talk with other people or wear ordinary Bluetooth headsets and air conduction headsets, the sound is mostly transmitted through the air. The sound waves must invariably vibrate the eardrum and other places to transmit the sound. When wearing in-ear headphones, the sound waves from the headphones constantly hit the eardrum, causing the hair cells in the ear to die and irreversible damage.
The bone transmission does not go through the eardrum. It skips some nerve levels and passes them directly to the auditory nerve to stimulate the cerebral cortex so that our ears can hear the sound. Bone transmission can not only filter out the electronic sound impurities in the sound but also play a role in protecting hearing.
Bone conduction earphones not only reduce ear fatigue but also do not clog the ear canal when the ear sweats, providing ventilation and heat dissipation of the ear canal and reducing the accumulation of sweat in the ear. However, due to the body structure of the bone conduction earphone, the bone vibrator outside the human ear will cause a sound loss in the earphone. When the vibrator is in use, it makes the surrounding air vibrate, so that there is a so-called “sound leak” in the ear.
Recently, there has been a new design that may have solved this problem and further improves the sound quality with the in-ear option. The headset called Earbugs was designed by All Design Lab, a multidisciplinary design studio specializing in the development of brands, products and visual stories. The Earbugs are conceptual 3-in-1 earphones that can be used as traditional in-ear, over-the-ear and even bone conduction earphones.
The earphones have a smooth shape that naturally fits the wearer’s ears, and they hide bone conduction technology in the inner wall with a goose bump texture to indicate it. The traditional in-ear tips can be combined with bone conduction technology for a better sound stage. Also, you can easily switch between OFF mode, transparent mode, and noise isolation mode to give users a new sound experience with a completely different aesthetic and design approach.
I would love to see the Earbugs hit the market soon and hopefully have good sound quality. If so, I would personally buy one to test it out because it’s a very clever idea that solves the problems I have with my current Samsung Buds Pro.
