What is a bone conduction headset?

Bone conduction is a way of sound conduction, which converts sound into mechanical vibrations of different frequencies, and transmits sound waves through the human skull, bony labyrinth, inner ear lymph, spiral organs, and auditory center.

Compared with the classic sound conduction method that generates sound waves through the diaphragm, bone conduction eliminates many sound wave transmission steps, and can achieve clear sound reproduction in a noisy environment, and the sound waves will not affect others due to diffusion in the air. . Bone conduction technology is divided into bone conduction speaker technology and bone conduction microphone technology:
(1) Bone conduction speaker technology is used to send a call, and the voice is heard when the call is sent. Air conduction speakers convert electrical signals into sound waves (vibration signals) and transmit them to the auditory nerve. The bone conduction speaker is a sound wave (vibration signal) converted from an electrical signal directly to the auditory nerve through the bone. The transmission medium of sound waves (vibration signals) is different.
(2) Bone conduction microphone technology is used for receiving speech, which collects sound. Air-conducted speech is sound waves transmitted through the air to the microphone, while bone-conducted speech is transmitted directly through the bones.

Earphones manufactured by using these bone conduction technologies are called bone conduction earphones, also known as bone conduction earphones, bone-sensing earphones, bone-transmitting earphones and bone-sensing earphones.

Classification
Bone conduction headphones are divided into bone conduction speaker technology headphones and bone conduction microphone technology headphones
(1) Bone conduction speaker technology headset:
Bone conduction technology is used to receive words, close to the bones, and sound waves are transmitted directly to the auditory nerve through the bones. Therefore, both ears can be opened without harming the tympanic membrane. In the military and civilian fields, the cheek bones of the face are generally used to directly conduct sound.
(2) Bone conduction microphone technology headset:
Bone conduction technology is used to collect sound, and the sound waves are transmitted to the microphone through the bones. In the civilian field, bone conduction technology is generally used to reduce noise.
Due to the needs of military scenarios, sometimes it is impossible to speak loudly, and the loss rate of sound in bone conduction is much lower than air conduction, and the bone conduction microphone technology headset mainly uses the bone conduction in the throat. Due to the short distance, the loss is low. Soldiers only need to make a small voice to accurately convey the instructions they want to express.

Working principle
Under normal circumstances, sound waves are transmitted into the inner ear through two paths of air conduction and bone conduction, and then the inner and perilymph fluids of the inner ear produce vibrations. The spiral organ completes the sound process, and then the auditory nerve generates nerve impulses, which are presented to the auditory center and the brain. After a comprehensive analysis of the cortex, the sound is finally "heared". Perhaps for air conduction (the path is sound waves-auricle-external auditory canal-tympanic membrane-malleus-incus-stapes-vestibular window-external and endolymph-spiral organ-auditory nerve-auditory center), we have more or less some Perceptual knowledge, but a bit incomprehensible to bone conduction. Maybe you will understand by giving an example: cover your ears with your hands and talk to yourself, no matter how small the voice, we can hear what we say, this is the result of bone conduction.

There are two ways of bone conduction: mobile and squeeze. The two synergistically stimulate the screw to cause hearing. The specific conduction path is: "sound wave-skull-bone labyrinth-inner ear lymph-screw-auditory nerve-cerebral cortex auditory center ". Usually people don't need to use their skulls to feel the sound. However, when the pathology of the outer and middle ear hinders the transmission of sound waves, bone conduction can be used to compensate for hearing. For example, bone conduction hearing aids, bone conduction earphones, etc., use bone conduction to feel sound.
In most cases, the earphones that come into contact are through "air conduction", which is called "air conduction earphone"; while the earphones produced by the principle of bone conduction call it "bone conduction earphone".

Features of Bone Conduction Headphones
(1) Bone conduction speaker technology headset:
When wearing and using, open both ears, do not block the ears, and solve the discomfort of wearing in-ear headphones.
At the same time, it also avoids a series of hygiene and health problems caused by sweating in the ears when wearing headphones for exercise. Therefore, bone conduction speaker earphones are very suitable for sports use.
Opening both ears also guarantees the possibility of using headphones in dangerous situations. Open both ears, you can also notice changes in the surrounding environment while using the earphones, making it safer to use.
(2) Bone conduction microphone technology headset:
Since the sound collection distance is short, the loss is low. It can make the other party clearly know the instructions expressed when the volume of speech is very small, mainly used in the military field.