Bone phone..... WTF?

[sixate]

LINKY

Block your ears to hear better on Japan's new bone phone

Tokyo
January 21, 2004


Japanese telecom carriers, pioneers of internet-capable and picture-snapping handsets, have now come up with the world's first mobile phone that enables users to listen to calls inside their heads - by conducting sound through bone.

The TS41 handset, manufactured by electronics firm Sanyo, was put on sale by the Tu-Ka mobile phone group this month, drawing healthy demand from customers who want to hear calls better in busy streets and other noisy places.

The new phone is equipped with a "Sonic Speaker" which transmits sounds through vibrations that move from the skull to the cochlea in the inner ear, instead of relying on the usual method of sound hitting the outer eardrum.

With the new handset, the key to better hearing in a noisy situation is to plug your ears to prevent outside noise from drowning out bone-conducted sounds.

If the user holds the handset to the top of the head, the back of the head, cheekbone or jaw and plugs his or her left ear, the call will be heard internally on the left side.

It is the first time that the bone conduction has been used in mobile phones although the technology has been available for fixed-line phones in Japan, mostly for elderly people, for the past two years.

The Tu-Ka group has launched a major advertising campaign for the new mobile phone, featuring a young woman and a X-ray image of her skull using the handset.

A spokesman at Tu-Ka Cellular Tokyo said it was too early to declare the TS41 a success, but retail store clerks said they were seeing a healthy demand for it.

"We have lots of inquires from young women thanks to the television commercial," said Tomoyuki Harasawa, a sales consultant at a Bic Camera consumer electronics store in Yurakucho, central Tokyo.

"The actual buyers are mostly businessmen in their 30s and 40s," Harasawa said.

"We sell four to five TS41s a day, a good figure for Tu-Ka, which lags far behind rival mobile operators" such as DoCoMo and Vodafone.

The mobile phone is priced at ¥7800 ($A95) each at the discount store.

"I don't know if this is going to be a big hit, but it will be possible for Tu-Ka to raise its market share since this high-profile handset has improved its brand recognition among consumers," Harasawa said.

Tu-Ka firms belong to Japan's second-largest telecom carrier, KDDI group.

But Tu-Ka subscribers account for only a small percentage of the market, far less than the roughly 20 per cent for the "au" brand in the same KDDI group and the more than 50 per cent for industry leader DoCoMo.

Customers who examined the new phone on the Bic Camera sales floor had mixed reactions.

Masaya Iwata, a 31-year-old accountant, said the product was interesting but he was not sure if he would buy it because he uses his mobile less and less for talking.

"I use my mobile for picture-taking and emailing rather than having conversations," he said.

Japan's top mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo launched "i-mode" phones in February 1999, offering internet surfing, emailing and video watching on mobile handsets.

And J-Phone, now rebranded Vodafone to underline that it is controlled by the British-based telecoms giant, launched picture-taking handsets in November 2000.

Nearly every new mobile handset in Japan now has a built-in digital camera enabling users to send images taken with their mobiles via email to other handsets or computers.

Tomohiro Abukawa, a 34-year-old hair stylist, said he liked the bone-conducting phone, noting railway stations and streets were often too noisy to talk.

"I may get this as it is also small," he said.

But one woman in her 20s said she found the phone "scary". "Isn't this bad for your health?" she asked.

Another woman, in her 30s, said she was interested in the mobile phone but was self-conscious.

"What troubles me is that I may look weird if I'm talking with the phone pressed between my eyebrows," she said.

Am I the only one who thinks this is dumb? I just don't get it.
I would think that a hands-free headset would be a better option than gluing a cell phone to my forehead.

[MSD]

You can press it on the point just in front of your ear and above your jaw, and plug your ear with one finger on that hand. I've tried a speaker that transmits sound through bone, and it is a lot clearer in a noisy environment. Plus, it's a lot better than what I expected based on the title, I though it would be a phone with the handset made out of a femur or something.

[nash]

I don't think it's gluing, just holding it against your head, maybe pressing it to one ear/cheek/jaw? Anyhow, I think I can hear well enough to go without that technology. But in Japan where streets are crowded and there's lots of noise, it would make sense to have one I guess.

[Charlatan]

This would be better if it was a permanent implant in your skull...

[numist]

I would get annyed by it if it were always there and I had to plug my head in every night.

A good idea though, Id like to see its execution myself...

[sixate]

Originally posted by nash
I don't think it's gluing, just holding it against your head, maybe pressing it to one ear/cheek/jaw?

I know. I just said that because you'd look like a moron holding a phone to your forehead... I think I'll pass.

[SiNai]

Yeah, it would be better if you didn't actually have to hold it on your head while pressing your ear.. Reminds me of tuning an instrument, you can hear your own better (if it's one of those you stick up to your mouth and blow on) if you close an ear and listen to the vibrations. Only drawback is head sound is always a little sharp

[mbchills]

what is the world coming to lol

[Fire]

the tech has been around for years- my 4th grade teacher brought a "walkman " in to show the class that you wore like a backpack- transmitted the vibes through your shoulders- damn wierd, and at the time did not work nearly as well

[vapusforever]

some things are convenient. This "bone phone" thing is just plain weird. If it ever comes to the US, you can count me out...

[Redjake]

Does anyone notice the remarkeable similarity to Metal Gear Solid, or is it just me? Codec anyone? Maybe I'm in the wrong section

[AlphaFox830]

The military uses similar technology to replace their famous "throat microphones" for noisy environments.

www.tacticalcommand.com

all in all it sounds intersting, though it would take some getting used to.

[tehblaed]

I was once introduced to the idea of transmitting audio signals through bone from my Electronics teacher in High School. We had a large conversation/brainstorming about making a wireless walkman - the CD would go in the walkman in your pocket somewhere, and transmit the signal to a piece in your mouth. You bite down on the piece, it vibrates and sound travels through your teeth into your jawbone, right to your ears. Stop biting, and you don't hear anything.

[bltzkriegmcanon]

Originally posted by Redjake
Does anyone notice the remarkeable similarity to Metal Gear Solid, or is it just me? Codec anyone? Maybe I'm in the wrong section

w3rd. That's what I think. This sounds INCREDIBLY like the codec from MGS. Too bad its not exactly like that.

[bigbad]

Saw a thing on TV about this, although it looks interesting I don't think I'd ever actually use it, kinda creeps me out.

[Drider_it]

lol and we used stuff like this in future roleplaying games for years.. they should ask us about it.. lol i bet most the cool tech stuff comes from people my age that played roleplaying games and thought.. hey what if we made that..

although i'd be scared at the fatasy ones.. he what if we made a troll or dragon.. hmmm

but yeah.. they could have say an attachment that hooked onto the ear that has a main part snug behind the ear and against the bone back there. and like Alpha said.. a throat mic of some sort.

hell the military here in the usa has the best toys out there.

[bobson]

this definately creeps me out. but thinking about it, there is no logical reason for it too...could be kind of cool. but once again, years of movies telling me "machines are bad when they get too complicated" takes its toll

[Jephree]

is there a warranty if you get clocked?

[clifclav]

<img src="http://posters.up.online.fr/posters/img/johnny_mnemonic.jpg">

I'm ready plug me in.