Glasses make it easier to see far, near, or both. So-called smart glasses are proposing various forms of visual space in the near future. Beyond that, it’s easy to carry a hundred-inch mobile display, but before that, as a realistic theme, expectations are high for the expansion of hearing.
Glasses with speakers to play sound
Anker held an event “Anker Power Conference -’22 Spring” for the press. Various new products to be developed in the future were introduced, but I was personally interested in “Soundcore Frames“is. A Cafe version and a Landmark version are available, both priced at 19,900 yen. It will be released on June 1st, a little later.
The Cafe version is transparent glasses with a lens that cuts 20% of blue light. The Landmark version is a pair of polarized sunglasses that block 99% of UV rays.
It has the same structure as general glasses, but it is divided into a front frame and two audio temples. It is a structure that attaches and detaches the vine part of so-called glasses.
The only difference between the Cafe and Landmark versions is the front frame and the lens, and the audio temple as a device seems to be the same. There is no announcement from Anker, but it seems to be interesting if only the front frame is sold separately or if there is a possibility that a front frame with a unique design will appear from a third party.
The audio frame is equipped with two speaker units on each of the left and right sides, and a terminal for charging. It’s a subtle thing that you can’t understand without careful observation.
You can also see the presence of two microphone units in the audio frame on the right. Communicate with smartphones and PCs via Bluetooth 5.2. Compatible codecs are SBC and AAC, as well as IPX4 waterproof standards.
Charging is done with the included dedicated USB cable. One side is a USB-A standard plug cable, and the other side is equipped with two magnetic adsorption terminals. When this cable is attached to the left and right audio temples, the green lamp lights up and charging starts, and when fully charged, it goes out.
Finally, if you lose this cable, it will no longer function as a speaker as soon as the device’s battery runs out. According to the catalog specifications, the maximum playable time is 5.5 hours. Bringing a cable will be essential for travel and business trips. I wanted to support a general-purpose charging method with a Type-C port etc. because it can be separated on the left and right here. Was it difficult in terms of size, weight, waterproofness, etc.?
There is no power switch. When worn on the face, the sensor automatically turns on the power, and when removed from the face, the music being played stops and turns off after 2 minutes.
Of course, in addition to audio playback, it also supports voice calls on smartphones, and can also be used for communication in online conferences.
Sound leaks, so be careful
It has a simple structure in which the exposed speaker sounds near the ear. In other words, far from sound leakage, the sound being played is leaking to the surroundings. However, since it is close to the ear, it is not necessary to raise the volume so much, so it seems that the annoyance level can be controlled as it is.
You can also enable equalizing, open surround, and voice control using Anker’s integrated app for sound-related devices, “Ssoundcore,” and set privacy modes to further reduce sound leakage. In this mode, the high and low frequencies are suppressed for playback, and it seems that the unpleasant frequency band peculiar to sound leakage called shakapoko is canceled.
Not to mention playing music, it is awkward that the voice of the other party in a voice call or online conference leaks to the surroundings, and there are security problems depending on the content. Anyway, you should wear it yourself and play the sound etc. at a volume that you can easily hear, and ask someone to wear it and check how much leakage there is. It is recommended to try it in various scenes such as your own room, a noisy public space such as a cafe, a quiet public space such as a library, a train, an airplane, etc. to check the sound leakage situation. Since the environmental sound can be heard normally, it is difficult to realize that the sound is loud at the ear.
This time I tried the Landmark version of sunglasses, and I wanted to try the Cafe version that could be used in a wide range of situations including indoors. It seems to be the best device for online meetings in your room.
Of course, some people wear glasses on a daily basis, while others don’t. For those who wear eyeglasses on a daily basis, transparent eyeglasses are not practical. Also, people who don’t wear glasses can feel annoyed when they have to wear something on their face. Compared to the earphones that stick into the ear canal, which one is it?
Better yet, glasses without lenses may be fine
You don’t need a lens anymore, you might wish you had a plain frame. It may be more convenient for me because my spectacle lenses do not shine at online meetings. There may be such a device. I looked it up on the Wiki and found that the eyeglass frame that hangs on the vine like it is today was developed by the British spectacle shop Edward Scarlett in 1727. Not changed. It’s a shape with such a long history, so it must be excellent. Making it sound compatible is a natural process.
There are various ways to build a virtual sound field in a personal space. Closed and open over-ear headphones and canal-type in-ear headphones have been used. In addition, the presence or absence of active noise cancellation also affects the usability.
Furthermore, in recent years, solutions such as earphones that do not block the ear canal, neck speakers, and bone conduction earphones that are compatible with both virtual and real sound fields have emerged.
In these devices, the real sound field as the environmental sound exists as usual, and the virtual sound field is mixed there. Rather, it mixes freely and becomes one of the sound sources of the real sound field. It meets the needs of paying attention to the real sound field, such as communication with family members, baby crying, pet mood, and doorbells such as courier services, even during meetings while working from home.
All of them have been devised to minimize the discomfort caused by wearing them for a long time, but the fact is that the speakers are placed very close to the ears and you can hear the sound from there. If you try it, you will understand it, but it is very good.
Bone conduction is a great solution, but it requires an actuator that vibrates with sound to touch the skull, which can be unpleasant when turned up. There is also some sort of oppressive feeling to bring it closer to the skull.
However, if the speaker is mounted on the vine of the glasses, there is no need to worry about it. It’s always necessary to be aware that it may be someone else around you who is listening to the leak, but I think it’s a very realistic way to feel uncomfortable.
By the way, the weight of this product (Landmark version) was actually 45g. On the other hand, I think the glasses I use personally are heavier, but they weigh 35 grams. It’s a difference of 10g, but as an individual accustomed to glasses, I felt that it wasn’t that much of a concern.
However, in Corona, the time spent wearing masks is long, and when wearing glasses, the lens becomes cloudy due to breathing, so more time is spent without glasses. Well, presbyopia is also progressing, and when looking at the screen of a PC, it may be easier to focus without glasses. Perhaps, in the last two years, my eyesight has become a completely different dimension. I thought it was time to make glasses that could handle long- and short-distance, long- and medium-distance, medium- and short-distance, etc., but it is new and commonplace to do this with ordinary glasses that are not exaggerated like head-mounted displays. If so, why don’t we take a closer look …