Kyocera teases bone conduction audio technology for mobile phones at CTIA

Can you hear me now? It's a common phrase in the mobile industry, but if Kyocera has its way, the saying could quickly become a thing of the past, thanks to bone conduction technology that it plans to integrate into future handsets. Rather than operating with a traditional earpiece, we were told the display itself vibrates to create sound waves. The end result is an aural experience that can be perceived with your facial tissues and bones, and it's said to dramatically improves perceived audio quality within noisy environments.

Bone conduction technology was initially created for those with hearing difficulty, and while Kyocera isn't the first to reveal an implementation within mobile phones (a distinction that belongs to KDDI), the technology is Kyocera's own. During our brief hands-on demo, we were rather impressed by the noticeable difference created by tissue conduction in comparison to a traditional handset -- this applies to both quiet and noisy environments. In case you're curious, no, the vibrations aren't jarring, and yes, we'd genuinely like to see the technology take to the mainstream.

Gallery: Kyocera's tissue conduction audio technology

Kyocera teases bone conduction audio technology for mobile phones at CTIA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 May 2012 21:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.