The Hindu Business Line : Now, a mobile phone for the hearing-challenged

Bone messaging: An NTT DoCoMo employee demonstrated the ‘Sound Leaf Plus’ mobile phone at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona last week. The phone uses bone conduction to send and receive voice signals. —

Anand Parthasarathy

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We have heard of a ‘bone of contention’. Correct that to ‘bone of contentment’. Elderly mobile phone users and those with hearing difficulties know what a challenge it is to hear and be heard while using a standard handset.

Japanese telecom leader NTT DoCoMo used its presence at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week to unveil an unusual mobile receiver-microphone combo that help many hearing-challenged users carry out normal conversations.

The ultra slim Bluetooth handset known as “Sound Leaf Plus” weighs just 45 grams and works when pressed against the bone, just below the ear. Using a principle known as bone conduction, it sends sound vibrations to the auditory nerves through the cranial bones. This is said to be the first consumer product in the industry that combines a bone-conduction technology with a telephone coil. It connects through the Bluetooth link or a hard wire to the cellular phone service.

NTT DoCoMo spokesperson Mr Shinya Yokota, told Business Line that the device developed by NEC/Tokin included a high frequency switch that improved sound articulation. In addition to those with age-related hearing deficiencies, it was also useful for those with normal hearing when they were in noisy environments.

Bone conduction has been used mostly in specialised, military devices in the form of throat microphones or diver communication sets to provide hand free operation for pilots and underwater operators. This is arguably the first application where the technology is being deployed for lay consumers.

While the Sound Leaf has been available to DoCoMo subscribers in Japan, the company appears to be addressing a wider device market with the showcasing at the Mobile Congress.

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