Headphones – or earphones, specifically, that lets you enjoy music while still aware of the surrounding are not new. We have seen a bunch of them. The secret sauce is (mostly) bone conduction. And bone conduction is exactly what the Sentien Audio is.
Sentien Audio is a bone-conducting open-ear audio headset and one good looking pair, if I may add. For the benefit of those who aren’t aware of bone conduction technology, here’s what it is about:
“Bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner ear primarily through the bones of the skull, allowing the hearer to perceive audio content without blocking the ear canal. Bone conduction transmission occurs constantly as sound waves vibrate bone, specifically the bones in the skull…”
Obviously, Sentien Audio ain’t the first. But it is an option for those in the market for a pair of aware headphones. Sentien claims to elevate sound leakage so others around you will not be bothered.
With this new bone conduction headset, you can do things like any regular headphones, including take calls, play music and summon your favorite voice assistant like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri – all by using tap, gesture or voice commands.
And yes, it does have microphones built in for calls, voice commands and voice assistants. It also touts a titanium band that can be adjusted for a custom fit to any head size.
Finally, it gets a built-in battery good for 24 hours on a single charge, or up to 10 hours continuous playback. It has a companion app too, letting you to customize the headset’s voice, touch, and gesture controls.
If you are sold by the idea, you may want to considering pledging for a pair on Kickstarter. The campaign is funded and so, if all goes as planned, it should see delivery in September. The asking price is not cheap though. It will cost you at least US$195.
Images: Sentien.
