Smart headphones designed to prevent accidents

Scientists have developed smart headphones that warn the owner about the approach of cars. Researchers at Columbia University believe that the device will reduce the number of accidents among pedestrians.

Smart headphones to prevent accidents already exist, but in their current form they are ineffective. Such devices with a microphone pick up sounds similar to the sound of an approaching car, and muffle music. At the same time, they have high sensitivity and work too often on a busy city street - so much so that the owner no longer pays attention to warnings.

According to hightech.fm, researchers have found a way to solve this problem. Together with colleagues from the University of North Carolina and New York College Barnard, scientists from the University of California created AI headphones that separate the sound of the car from everyone else - and only warns the user in case of danger.

Headphones are equipped with microphones that pick up sounds in all directions from the user. Data from microphones through the application on the smartphone is transmitted to the cloud storage, where the neural network analyzes the sound for compliance with the sounds of approaching vehicles.

If the algorithm manages to detect the sound of an approaching vehicle, it notifies the user with a specially designed signal.

Now smart headphones are being tested in the laboratory and on the streets of New York. The authors of the development expect that in the future the device will go on sale - and will reduce mortality among pedestrians.