Head-Mounted Speaker With Bone Conduction and Air Emission
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional speakers in head-mounted devices directly contact the user's ears, impairing immersion in virtual reality and failing to effectively transmit low-frequency sounds due to human auditory system limitations, while also interfering with high-frequency sound perception.
Innovation Solution
A speaker design featuring a housing member with an opening for middle-frequency and high-frequency sound emission into the open air, a vibrating unit for low-frequency sound transmission via bone conduction, and an abutting member to absorb high-frequency sounds, allowing for improved sound perception without direct ear contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional speaker emits sound in open air, then user immersion is improved and contact area is reduced, but high-frequency sound transmission to skull occurs which interferes with low-frequency perception
Solution Approach 1:
The speaker system is segmented into two independent functional units: a speaker unit for emitting middle and high-frequency sounds into open air, and a vibrating unit for transmitting low-frequency vibrations through bone conduction. This segmentation allows each unit to perform its specific function without interfering with the other, resolving the contradiction between improving immersion and eliminating high-frequency interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful high-frequency sound transmission to the skull is extracted and eliminated by designing the vibrating unit to respond only to low-frequency signals. The speaker unit handles high-frequency sounds while the vibrating unit is specifically tuned to low frequencies, thereby taking out the harmful effect of high-frequency bone conduction while preserving the useful low-frequency vibration transmission.
2Reliability
If direct ear contact speakers are used, then sound transmission is effective, but user immersion in virtual reality is impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The sound transmission function is segmented into two pathways: air conduction for middle and high-frequency sounds through the speaker unit, and bone conduction for low-frequency sounds through the vibrating unit. This segmentation allows the system to maintain effective sound transmission across all frequencies while avoiding direct ear contact, thereby preserving virtual reality immersion.
Solution Approach 2:
The traditional mechanical direct-contact speaker system is replaced with a hybrid system combining acoustic emission (speaker unit) and mechanical vibration transmission (vibrating unit). This substitution eliminates the need for direct ear contact while maintaining effective sound transmission through multiple pathways.
3Measurement precision
If low-frequency sound is transmitted via vibrator to skull, then user perception of low-frequency sound is improved, but high-frequency sound is also transmitted which causes interference
Solution Approach 1:
The vibrating unit is designed with local quality optimized for low-frequency vibration transmission, with specific material properties and structural characteristics that favor low-frequency resonance. This local optimization ensures that the vibrating unit effectively transmits low-frequency sounds to the skull while inherently filtering out high-frequency components, thus improving low-frequency perception without high-frequency interference.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances user immersion by separating sound emission and vibration transmission, allowing for better perception of low-frequency sounds without interference from high-frequency sounds, thus improving the virtual reality experience.
Implementation Method 1
transmitting the low-frequency sound to the skull of a user via a vibrator
Implementation Method 2
an abutting member to absorb high-frequency sounds
Data Source
AI summary
A speaker adapted to be disposed on a head-mounted device includes a housing member, a speaker unit, a vibrating unit and an abutting member. The housing member is adapted to be disposed on the head-mounted device and is formed with an opening adapted to open toward an ear of a user when in use. The speaker unit is disposed on the housing member in a manner that the speaker unit is not directly in contact with the head of the user when in use. The vibrating unit is disposed on the housing member and is capable of generating vibrations. The abutting member is disposed on the vibrating unit, is adapted to be in contact with the skin of the user, and is capable of transmitting the vibrations to the skull of the user.