Something have been considering/thinking about for a little while are these aftershokz (check brand spelling) bone conduction headphones - and call them headphones, instead of earphones, since they don't directly interact with your ears as such, since they sort of work based on vibrational feedback pads situated on your cheekbones, just in front of your ears.
And, yes, they do also produce audio, which then sort of generates/is translated into vibration, to sort of be passed through your facial bone structure into your hearing channels, etc - so people around you might also hear little tiny smidgens of the audio, but, more along the lines of any, normal form of surrounding earphone, etc.
Either way, the reason have been thinking about these for a little while is while I (obviously) work with talking computers a lot of the time, as well as talking phones, I also have a few gadgets and cellphone apps that rely on audio output, soundscapes etc. etc., and part of my issue is that since I do wear hearing aids, these gadgets and/or phones don't always produce enough audio detail, at high enough volume levels for me to hear all of it without my hearing aids, using normal in-ear earphones, and, the other issue there is that decent earphones will then also block out most of the other external audio signals/cues - especially if I am trying to pay attention to audio from a phone, a gadget, an MP3 player, etc. etc. - how often have I ended up phoning people back since hadn't even known my phone was ringing, when had been listening to MP3 player, etc. etc.
Anyway, now got hold of the aftershokz sports model bone conduction headphones via the following local supplier/online shop - Nivo Interactive:
http://www.nivo.co.za/#buy~aftershokz.sport.bone.conducting.headphones~p33183While their website didn't seem perfectly accessible, to start off with, I filled out their contact form and/or e-mailed them off one of the pages on that site, and got a response from someone who I think is running the company, and she helped me to sort out user profile/login, sort out order details, EFT payment, etc. etc. - very nice attitude/approach, and she also mentioned to me that a few years back she had met a blindie computer user, before which she also hadn't really known about something like that being possible/likely at all, but anyway - main thing is they actually helped me sort out online ordering process, etc., and this included that they had package delivered to my office yesterday morning, etc.
Now, down to details - these are sort of behind the head headphones, where the connecting piece between the two sides runs across the back of your neck, and the two actual output pieces come from behind, up over your ears, and then the two actual output pads rest on the back part of your upper jaw bone, just in front of your ears, and while the sort of structure/connecting piece does get slightly in the way of my hearing aids, seems pretty wearable/bearable, and will probably just take bit of time to get used to slightly different feeling.
But main thing is aside from their standard 3.5mm audio jack, which is 1.3m long, it has a small control piece on it nearer headset, which has a sort of collar/pocket clip on the back, and then includes a power on/off press button, two sort of volume rocker buttons, and then a small/micro USB socket, since it runs off the charge of it's own internal battery, and they say that roundabout 3 hours of USB charging will let it operate/work for roundabout 15 hours of usage, so let's see.
Anyway, main thing is that I am indeed now able to hear normally through my hearing aids, while at the same time hearing audio output from something like my PC, or my phone, or my MP3 player pretty damn well/clearly, and sound quality seems pretty decent/good, and only funny thing is that if you turn it's volume up to full tilt, the pads will literally work with a sort of buzz/vibration feeling, and if you put bit of pressure on them to press them against your cheekbones, with loud music playing, and volume turned up, it feels like you've got a whole nightclub pumping away inside your head/skull...<smile>
Now haven't gotten round to testing these with something like my KSonar as of yet, and haven't done much more than just a quick test with the vOICe on my android phones, but, already definitely seems better to be able to listen to my laptop's spoken output in the office by myself, while still being able to speak to, and hear people and sounds around me in the office/environment, etc.
Will also need to see how battery life/time periods work/last, but, overall, am pretty impressed with first impressions, and for example, for a sort of indication of overall quality, etc., the portable carry case they come with is sort of decent quality synthetic leather zip up pouch thingy that seems pretty well made, and the USB charge cable is definitely solid/good quality piece - but suppose that also relates to the fact that these aren't the cheapest headphones, etc., but anyway...<smile>
I would also have preferred if they worked with something like a soft/more flexible headband, or something, but, issue there would be that it might not suit all implementations as well either, and this form of behind the head band is also something that have seen in past for normal headphones, since it's meant to be less intrusive, etc., and while you can also get a model that's meant to offer phone interaction, like call answering, microphone, etc., I rahte rwent for the sports model, since they'll hopefully be a bit more durable, and should work better in outdoor environments, etc. etc., since aside from office interaction, one of my primary reasons for wanting to get hold of these was to let me use audio gadgetry in the real world, without having to deafen myself at same time by taking out my hearing aids...<smile>
Stay well Jacob Kruger Blind Biker Skype: BlindZA ...Roger Wilco wants to welcome you...to the space janitor's closet... ---------- To send a message to the list, send any message to blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ---------- To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to blindza-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line --- The 'homepage' for this list is at http://www.blindza.co.za
