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Method to Cancel Noise Without Ear-Blocking Headphones

posted by mrpg on Sunday August 26 2018, @02:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the smoke-gets-in-your-ears dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

Current noise cancelling technology comes in the form of headphones and earbuds. To cancel noise, these headphones emit an anti-noise signal to contrast the external sounds. The time available for the headphones to produce this anti-noise signal is extremely short. This results in some noise getting through, which is why all these devices must cover the entire ear with noise-canceling material. However, wearing such ear-blocking devices for long periods of time is not comfortable, and can even be harmful.

"Our goal is to not block the ear canal," said Sheng Shen, lead author and a Ph.D. candidate in the Coordinated Science Laboratory and Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). "We envision a behind-the-ear device that still achieves noise cancellation as good as the best headphones or earbuds available today."

The main idea behind this research involves combining wireless IoT networks with noise cancellation. A microphone is placed in the environment that senses sounds and sends them over wireless signals to an earpiece. Since wireless signals travel a million times faster than sound, the earphone can receive the sound information much faster than the actual sound itself.

Source: Method to cancel noise without ear-blocking headphones

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @08:22AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 26 2018, @08:22AM (#726483)

    BTW, the example used in TFA is blocking out the voices of coworkers.

    Anyone who's ever worn noise-cancelling headphones knows that's not how it works. Ongoing, droning things, yes, e.g. lawn mowers, airplane engines, fans. Non-consistent sounds like shouting kids and chatty co-workers, not at all.