Apple’s Patent for New Smart Headphones Can Detect How They Are Worn

Just by listening to a user’s voice, technology in Apple’s new headphones can help you ensure that you never put on your headphones the wrong way again.

The new headphone technology will be able to detect how the headphones are being worn, solving the problem that some users have of wearing the headphones the wrong way. Using an array of new microphones, the audio accessory will be capable of switching channels automatically.

Addressing a Common Problem: Putting on Headphones the Wrong Way

In the patent application published on November 8th of this year at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Apple’s team clearly describes the new technology’s purpose: "System and method for automatic right-left ear detection for headphones." The new headphones can thus detect how the person is wearing the headset, automatically readjusting so that the left-channel audio will play out of the left-hand ear cup and the right-channel audio out of the right-hand ear cup. At the same time, the headphones themselves are not labeled with left and right designations in the design or direct labeling like other manufacturers have chosen to do.

The new technology consists of a set of five microphones placed strategically around each earcup - front, back, top, below to the left of the earcup and one inside towards the user’s ear. The technology listens to the user’s voice, checking the volume and thus figuring out which edge is closest to the person’s mouth and thus determines the orientation of the headphones. After the orientation is determined, the audio signal is then fed into each of the ear cups appropriately.

Another benefit of having multiple microphones is eliminating external noise when a person wearing the headset, makes calls or voice commands. Having five microphones in each ear cup of a pair of headphones would make it easier to isolate a person’s voice from background noise. In addition to making clearer phone calls, the technology would also help Siri better understand voice commands in varying surroundings. Apple has also filed a prior patent in October, "Electronic Devices with Configurable Capacitive Proximity Sensors," for proximity sensor electrodes in the earcup to hep determine the ear’s presence and shape to figure out if it is the left or right ear. Interestingly enough, the new technology can be used in a pillow to help figure out the way a person is sleeping.

Dual Mode Technology: Speaker on the Fly

Apple has been working on several headphone improvements, ranging from its patent on “Spatial Headphone Transparency” which adjusts an audio feed to sound like it is coming from a person’s surroundings instead of headphones. Another idea for a headphone that can function as a speaker has also been proposed called a “dual-mode” headphone as well as headphones that have sensors useful for healthcare and sports fitness monitoring. This next-generation headphone design can transform a stereo loudspeaker automatically, offering new technology integrations for potential EarPods, AirPods or Beats models in the future.

While Apple proactively files patents for many technology ideas, the company does not always necessarily develop these ideas into full-fledged products. However, headphones are potentially different given Apple’s keen interest in audio from iTunes to Apple Music, HomePod, Apple TV and now Apple’s own movie and TV shows. Well known industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also estimated in 2017 that Apple would sell 28 million AirPods or more this year.

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Profile: Ernõ Rubik, Three-Dimensional Space and the Rubik's Cube

Invention begins with seeing familiar things in a new way. What can you learn from the Rubik’s cube and its inventor? Here we take a closer look.

“If you are curious, you’ll find the puzzles around you. If you are determined, you will solve them.”

— Ernõ Rubik

The Rubik’s Cube has become a world-famous and instantly recognizable toy since its launch over 40 years ago. The toy is iconic as an intellectual challenge that people instantly pick up and start playing around with intuitive understanding of what the end goal (all same color squares on each side) is. This geometric puzzle is easily accessible, does not require written instructions and offers also a sense of order and completion.

In 1974, a 29-year-old Hungarian sculptor and architect Ernõ Rubik invented the Rubik’s Cube, which he initially called the ‘Magic Cube’ or ‘Buvos Kocka’ in Hungarian, as a way of teaching his students how to solve three-dimensional problems. The toy that he made that did not break no matter how much you twisted or turned it. Rubik’s architecture students at the Budapest College of Applied Arts (Iparművészeti Főiskola) loved it.

His toy became very popular in Hungary. The country was Communist at the time, with tight regulations on imports and exports. Rubik shared his invention at toy fairs. At the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1979, he met Tom Kremer who saw the potential in the toy and wanted to sell it worldwide.

Through Tom’s help, Rubik was able to sell over 100 million cubes of the newly renamed toy, the Rubik’s Cube worldwide. The updated version also was lighter. Soon there were competitions worldwide to see who could solve the Rubik’s Cube puzzle the fastest.

“Space always intrigued me, with its incredibly rich possibilities, space alteration by objects, objects’ transformation in space, movement in space and in time, their correlation, their repercussion on mankind, the relation between man and space, the object and time. I think the CUBE arose from this interest, from this search for expression and through increased acuteness of these thoughts.”

— Ernõ Rubik

Erno Rubik with his daughter Anna in 1981

Rubik revealed a keen awareness of what people liked and an appreciation for art and form. He also attributed his love of art and science to his parents. His father was a well known mechanical engineer who built gliders while his mother loved language and writing. Rubik initially studied to be a sculptor and then discovered that he had a keen interest and passion for technical applications. He went on to study architecture soon after. He credits the schools and universities that he attended as helping him in practicing his craft and giving him the necessary space and equipment to experiment, research and learn.

Rubik used wood for the blocks and rubber bands and paper clips to hold the pieces together in his first prototype. He used primary colors to help him bring some order to the cube rotations and used stickers on the finished cube. After his students had tested it out and loved it, Rubik found a plastics manufacturer to help him prototype his toy model. It was only after he met Tom Kremer that Rubik was able to build out his cube properly and then share his toy with the world.

“People like its beauty, simplicity and form. It’s really not a puzzle or a toy. It’s a piece of art.”

— Ernõ Rubik

People Love Order, Though Order is Harder to Achieve than Chaos

The Rubik’s Cube has 43 quintillion (43,252,003,274,489,856,000) possible configurations, with only one correct solution. Despite these odds, the toy itself has a wide appeal. Adults and children alike love to pick it up and attempt to solve the geometric puzzle.

Strategy can appear magical, when it is just well thought out and precise

Given the odds, solving a Rubik’s cube puzzle especially when someone hands you a random configuration, can seem miraculous. However, there are actual strategies that you can follow to solve this puzzle regardless of what configuration you receive. The key is to create order partially and to build on this since all ‘chaos’ cannot be resolved all at once. Systematically applying complex patterns can seem like magic to those that are unfamiliar, when in actuality, there is a strong logic and mathematical order to the process.

43 quintillion options definitely sounds daunting, but actually solving the Rubik’s cube puzzle follows a logical process of using 15 algorithms. No matter what configuration you receive, you can apply these 15 algorithms and solve the cube puzzle.

Don’t Be Afraid to Start Over and Try Again

Few things make starting over and trying again as appealing as the Rubik’s cube. In fact, the toy invites you to step outside your comfort zone, challenge yourself, think differently and learn something new.

Rubik said that the first time he solved the puzzle it took him weeks. Later on, it would take him roughly one minute. Some people are able to solve the puzzle in under 30 seconds.

The Rubik’s cube also offers a relaxed way to help you build your focus.

Engage Audiences in New Ways

The Rubik’s cube remains incredibly popular today, with contests, social media videos and exhibits such as Beyond Rubik’s Cube by the Liberty Science Center that promotes new ideas based on the cube.

Beyond Rubik’s Cube Exhibit by Liberty Science Center — **Beyond Rubik’s Cube Exhibit** by Liberty Science Center

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