Apple has developed a concept for a new portable audio device.
A new patent describes a “wearable device with directional audio”. This can be attached to a piece of clothing, for example.
Small portable speaker
It’s supposed to work like a kind of small speaker. Instead of irradiating the entire environment, only the wearer should be able to hear the output.
The technology is reminiscent of Star Trek, where a comparable virtual technology was used, called a “communicator”. It enabled direct voice transmission without the “enemy” being able to overhear…
Only the wearer hears
The patent description reads:
A portable device may provide an audio module capable of providing audio output at a distance to the user’s ears. For example, the wearable device may be worn on the user’s clothing and direct audio waves to the user’s ears. Such audio waves can be focused through a parametric arrangement of speakers that limit audibility to others. In this way, the privacy of audio signals directed to the user can be maintained without requiring the user to wear audio headsets on, over, or in their ears. The portable device may also include microphones and/or connections to other devices that facilitate calibration of the portable device’s audio module. The wearable device may also include user sensors configured to detect, measure, and/or track one or more characteristics of the user.
