What is bone conduction — and how does it work? This is probably the most common question posed to us here at AfterShokz. In summation, bone conduction uses transducers to create vibrations, allowing sound to conduct off your cheekbones and into your head. That’s great to know, if you’re tech savvy and know what a transducer is. But there’s a bunch of us out there that might not be as familiar with all the jargon. And at AfterShokz, we each have our own way of answering this question, but in order to really illustrate it, I am going to try a different approach. Here, I’ll run through the technology and show you a little trick you can try at home with a set of bone conduction headphones, so it really makes sense to you.
In our early years, we learn about our 5 senses: touch, sight, taste, smell and hearing. Let’s just focus on hearing right now (this is an article about audio after all). We learn to use our ears to hear our environment and the sounds around us. Technology, of course, has adapted the principle of using our eardrums as a direct source of input for sound. Furthermore, allowing for the invention of the speaker, and in effect, headphones as we so commonly use today. We have become used to headphones that plug our ear canals, ones that wrap around our ears, and massive headphones (sometimes referred to as ‘cans’ or dj-style) that encompass our ears. Each uses the same traditional method of input — the ear canal. But what if I told you could hear sound differently?
Let’s assume that you have heard a recording of your voice. Oh, you haven’t? OK, lets do a test. Take a moment here to record a simple phrase on your computer or phone and play it back. Let’s use a well known tongue twister, such as, “Sally sells seas shells by the sea shore.” Now that you have this recording available, say the phrase out loud and then play back the recording. Notice anything different?
Here is what is happening. The recording you hear sounds different than what you heard when you recorded it a moment ago, because when you hear something you are saying live, you are actually hearing the sound twice! You’re hearing the vibrations of your vocal chords resonating through the bones in your head (bone conduction) while your ear canal picks up the sound exiting your mouth simultaneously. Most people dislike the sound of their recorded voice because it’s unheard of in comparison to their inner voice. It may seem strange, but it’s just science.
With bone conduction, we take the idea of an inner voice and use it in a different fashion. Vibrations transfer sound into the inner ear and bypass our ear canal. Bone conduction allows people to hear sound in a way much different than they’re used to.
But if you’re interested in really seeing how this works for yourself, try this simple little trick. All you need is a small cardboard box and a pair of bone conduction headphones (like AfterShokz, for example!). Make sure that the front of the box is open. Next, take your headphones and press them on the left and right side of the box with the volume on. Congratulations! You just made yourself a bone conduction speaker! If you don’t have a pair of bone conducting headphones you can use your everyday headphones at full volume. I would recommend that if you use earbuds to keep the transducer as close to the surface as possible. However, the sound will not be as compelling compared to the bone conduction headset.
What could bone conduction do to benefit your life? Think about your exercise routine, or the circumstances in your office — could bone conduction headphones benefit you there? Leave a comment below!
