By Andrew Liszewski
Conventional ‘earbud’ type headphones work kind of like a dam completely blocking outside noises from entering the ear canal and disturbing your tunes. The downside of course is that you can’t hear anything but your music which could be dangerous when wearing them outside. So the AirDrives headphones from a company called InAir Technology have a unique design that allows the wearer to not only hear their music but also everything else around them.
The headphones hook in front of your ears and actually transmit the audio through the cartilage which supposedly aids in the perception of high frequencies but also allows other sounds to easily get through. It’s kind of hard to explain particularly since I can’t find a photo of someone actually wearing them but there’s a ‘How It Works’ section on the InAir website which describes how the ear functions and the theory behind the headphones. If they work as claimed they could be a great alternative particularly for the urban crowd.
The AirDrives are currently available for pre-order and should ship in about 4-6 weeks. The standard version with a magnesium housing sells for $99.99 while a smaller kids version sells for $69.99.
[ Air Drives ] VIA [ Popular Science ]
lobies offer earbud interchangeability and cost only $12.