Maybe it's the opposite? ANC headphones are lacking a means of communicating to people that you're not hearing them. However, if your ANC headphones link you lo

Maybe it's the opposite? ANC headphones are lacking a means of communicating to people that you're not hearing them. However, if your ANC headphones link you looking at someone with unmuting them, that communication barrier is crossed. This is particularly nice, as looking at someone is commonly a signal for "I'm listening to you".