HEAD acoustics ViBRIDGE: Holistic Testing of In-Ear Headsets with Bone Conduction Sensors

With the availability of the HEL/HER 4.4 ViBRIDGE Flexible Pinna for HMS II.3/5, the industry as gained a vital testing tool for in-ear headset designs that utilize bone conduction sensors. Evaluating these systems is vital to optimize near-end structure-borne sound to improve speech quality in the presence of background noise, improve echo cancellation, and double-talk performance. The unique technology developed by HEAD acoustics is being enthusiastically embraced by the industry.

As many audioXpress readers already learned from reading the article by Hans W. Gierlich on the Benefits of Using Structure-Borne Sound in Headset Signal Processing, HEAD acoustics created a complete test solution for in-ear and headset devices using bone-conduction sensors. There are good reasons for developers and manufacturers to explore the use of bone-conduction sensors and test them with the new ViBRIDGE solution.

This article looks at the practical test and measurement of bone conduction technology, as used in product development for headsets and in-ear devices. It showcases new possibilities for manufacturers to better evaluate device performance, since no appropriate test equipment and methods were commercially available until now. The approach, complements a Head-and-Torso Simulator (HATS) with an actuator capable of generating structure-borne sound in the artificial ear. This way, a realistic simulation of the human structure-borne voice signal for in-ear headsets is possible.. This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2023.