Patent attributes
The present disclosure describes a multi-mode headset incorporating both bone conduction and aural transducers. Bone conduction plates of the headset rest on a users' temples, just in front of each ear in one implementation, and create sound through vibrations in a first mode, allowing the user to listen to the headset while still leaving environmental or external sounds audible. In a second mode, the user detaches aural transducers or earbuds from an attachment point and inserts them into the user's ears, blocking external noise and providing passive and/or active noise isolation. In a third mode, both the bone conduction plates and aural transducers may be used simultaneously, providing additional amplitude and potentially wider frequency response. The headset may include a switch, such as a magnetic proximity sensor detecting the position of the aural transducers, to control a mixer or amplifier to re-route audio through the aural transducers. Accordingly, the user may switch between modes and listen to high quality, noise-isolated audio; or audio while remaining aware of external noises.
