5 ms·

Isn't cycling/driving with earphone plugged dangerous? I've tried it, and I couldn't hear the ambience sounds surrounding me.

Brakenshire 9y ago
There are some augmented reality headphones which can filter out some sounds but not others, so you might be able to listen to music but still hear preferentially hear certain sounds like tyres, engines, etc, or perhaps human conversation. A bit like listening to a podcast on your phone, but having it pause or fade out when the a satnav app wants to tell you to take a turning. Although I think they're still a bit of a work in progress, at the moment the microphones pick up too much wind noise to be able to use them while cycling, but maybe something for the future.
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  Etymotic had an app for this which used the headset mic to monitor your surrounding and pipe "important" sounds to the headphones. Looks like it's migrated to Essency now. http://www.essency.co.uk/awareness-the-headphone-app/ http://www.essency.co.uk/awareness-the-headphone-app/
steveadoo 9y ago
I would think so. It's actually illegal in my state(PA) to wear headphones while driving. Not sure about bikes though.
- r00fus 9y ago
  How does PA square this against (in e.g. a rented car) the alternative for many folks is putting the phone to the ear... seems like a stale law. Not all cars/phones/media can do handsfree.
chickenfries 9y ago
I hate that the video encourages wearing headphones while cycling. I have a phone holder on my handlebar and turn up the volume on my phone, works great.
- mertd 9y ago
  Works great for you. Not so much for people who bike around you.
  - chickenfries 9y ago
    Are you referring to headphones or what I do? I can't see how having my driving directions coming out of my phone distracts anyone else... it's not like it's very loud.
    - mertd 9y ago
      I'm referring to the case when the external speakers are playing music. It gets irritating to listen to somebody's music if they are riding your back wheel.
      - chickenfries 9y ago
        Oh, I also do that sometimes for long leisurely rides. That might be annoying to someone who doesn't like my music but it's not a safety hazard. However, what I do usually if I have to get directions just use my built in phone speakers.
falcolas 9y ago
Ironically, this mostly depends on you. If you lose the sense of vehicles and people around you, your music/navigation is up too high. Even with the best isolating headphones (around 25db; most non-IEM models offer much less isolation), you can still hear ambiant noises (unless your hearing is damaged to the point where isolating headphones do make you deaf). And with the standard set of Apple style headphones, they won't dampen the outside world at all. Losing the ambiant noises will only occur when you overwhelm them out with your music, podcast, or navigation.
- jdbernard 9y ago
  Losing the ambiant noises will only occur when you overwhelm them out with your music, podcast, or navigation. And running earbuds that loud for an extended period of time is a good way to lose your hearing.
- falsedan 9y ago
  > Even with the best isolating headphones (25dB) Etymotic ER-4's are 35-42 dB; I've put mine in and not heard the bus zooming through the crossing I was about to stroll across…
  - falcolas 9y ago
    Etymotics are fantastic, but I can hear regular road noise through them with my music turned down. Doesn't require much volume to drown it out, but it's still possible. ER4-XR's for me.
- KirinDave 9y ago
  > Ironically, this mostly depends on you. So the answer is, "yes." Not, "It depends on if you have ESP." That said, some noise cancelling headphones offer modes that specifically let road noise through, and folks have hacked them to improve directionality of weak sound signals, and amplify voices. The Parrot Zik firmware comes stock with a 'street' mode. It's entirely possible to have these systems function as hearing aides. MIT lab folks have demoed small wide-angle optical object detection that's then translated to directional feedback in a haptic belt.
shimon 9y ago
Seriously. Is this something that's already commonplace, and tech like this jacket can make less distracting? Or does this kind of stuff just enable humans to do more stuff with a fixed budget of risk? (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation)

Brakenshire 9y ago

There are some augmented reality headphones which can filter out some sounds but not others, so you might be able to listen to music but still hear preferentially hear certain sounds like tyres, engines, etc, or perhaps human conversation. A bit like listening to a podcast on your phone, but having it pause or fade out when the a satnav app wants to tell you to take a turning. Although I think they're still a bit of a work in progress, at the moment the microphones pick up too much wind noise to be able to use them while cycling, but maybe something for the future.

zimpenfish 9y ago
Etymotic had an app for this which used the headset mic to monitor your surrounding and pipe "important" sounds to the headphones. Looks like it's migrated to Essency now. http://www.essency.co.uk/awareness-the-headphone-app/ http://www.essency.co.uk/awareness-the-headphone-app/

steveadoo 9y ago

I would think so. It's actually illegal in my state(PA) to wear headphones while driving. Not sure about bikes though.

r00fus 9y ago
How does PA square this against (in e.g. a rented car) the alternative for many folks is putting the phone to the ear... seems like a stale law. Not all cars/phones/media can do handsfree.

chickenfries 9y ago

I hate that the video encourages wearing headphones while cycling. I have a phone holder on my handlebar and turn up the volume on my phone, works great.

mertd 9y ago
Works great for you. Not so much for people who bike around you.
- chickenfries 9y ago
  Are you referring to headphones or what I do? I can't see how having my driving directions coming out of my phone distracts anyone else... it's not like it's very loud.
  - mertd 9y ago
    I'm referring to the case when the external speakers are playing music. It gets irritating to listen to somebody's music if they are riding your back wheel.
    - chickenfries 9y ago
      Oh, I also do that sometimes for long leisurely rides. That might be annoying to someone who doesn't like my music but it's not a safety hazard. However, what I do usually if I have to get directions just use my built in phone speakers.

falcolas 9y ago

Ironically, this mostly depends on you. If you lose the sense of vehicles and people around you, your music/navigation is up too high. Even with the best isolating headphones (around 25db; most non-IEM models offer much less isolation), you can still hear ambiant noises (unless your hearing is damaged to the point where isolating headphones do make you deaf). And with the standard set of Apple style headphones, they won't dampen the outside world at all. Losing the ambiant noises will only occur when you overwhelm them out with your music, podcast, or navigation.

jdbernard 9y ago
Losing the ambiant noises will only occur when you overwhelm them out with your music, podcast, or navigation. And running earbuds that loud for an extended period of time is a good way to lose your hearing.
falsedan 9y ago
> Even with the best isolating headphones (25dB) Etymotic ER-4's are 35-42 dB; I've put mine in and not heard the bus zooming through the crossing I was about to stroll across…
- falcolas 9y ago
  Etymotics are fantastic, but I can hear regular road noise through them with my music turned down. Doesn't require much volume to drown it out, but it's still possible. ER4-XR's for me.
KirinDave 9y ago
> Ironically, this mostly depends on you. So the answer is, "yes." Not, "It depends on if you have ESP." That said, some noise cancelling headphones offer modes that specifically let road noise through, and folks have hacked them to improve directionality of weak sound signals, and amplify voices. The Parrot Zik firmware comes stock with a 'street' mode. It's entirely possible to have these systems function as hearing aides. MIT lab folks have demoed small wide-angle optical object detection that's then translated to directional feedback in a haptic belt.

shimon 9y ago

Seriously. Is this something that's already commonplace, and tech like this jacket can make less distracting? Or does this kind of stuff just enable humans to do more stuff with a fixed budget of risk? (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation)