From the Series
A team of innovators from Taiwan have proposed a way to combine their love of swimming and music using bone conduction to create an amphibious music player.
Beker, a lightweight, strap-on music player can be used while swimming, cycling, and any other activity because it bypasses the outer ear and eardrum, transmitting sound ways through the skull to the inner ear. This means that only the user will hear the sound.
The device weighs 34g similar to a standard slice of toast, and it carries 800 to 1000 songs. The battery lasts around 8 hours. It works in an outdoor, active scenario because it removes the need for earbuds, which are prone to getting snagged, falling out, and cannot be used underwater.
“As your outer ear is not blocked by earbuds, when exercising outdoors, you are able to hear ambient sounds and maintain situational awareness while enjoying the tunes. No passing cars, dogs, elephants and dinosaurs would pose a threat to you,” wrote the designers.
According to the team, Beker can be strapped between a swimmer's goggles, lodged into a swim cap, or strapped onto the head of a runner. When used underwater, it isolates more noises than it would on land, “allowing you to hear more details of the music.”
With their crowdfunding campaign still in its early stages, the team hope to ship the first of the devices out to backers in 2016.
