Hi Carol, the Outi head phones do not cover your ear in any way. your ear is completely open to hear the sounds around you. They use a type of bone conduction technology. My first experience: I was walking in a snow storm in New York, I could hear the cars on my left and the GPS both at the exact same time. I did have the ear phones on both ears. Hope this helps. Chris On Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:50:19 +0100, "Carol Pearson" <carol.pearson29@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >Michael, > >I'd like to answer your question ... but can't think of anything right now. > >What's so good about the Outi headphones, by the way? Chris Grabowski - Customer Support and Product testing Sendero Group "The GPS company." Also, distributors of the mPower, PK, Victor Stream, Voice Sense, KNFB Mobile Reader, Talks, Miniguide and ID Mate Phone: 888-757-6810 EXT. 113 Email: chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx