Wearing headphones can help make a workout more enjoyable, and in turn make you want to go longer and even harder. The problem is that wearing headphones when running or worse cycling on the road can limit the ability to hear traffic. But the earHero has come to the rescue
This earphone system is designed to allow users to hear the world around them, while still providing reasonable sound quality to the listener. It was designed by audiologist Matt Murphy, and works by not actually blocking the ear canal – so you can wear these and hear that car approach.
The headphones feature two tiny speakers, one of which slides into each ear canal, while a retention device is attached to each speaker sits inside the bowl of the ear, to keep it in place. Now, because the speakers are so small, they don’t occupy the entire width of the ear canal, and this allows outside noises to be heard. Better still because the ear isn’t seal, these shouldn’t result in hearing loss from pumping the music directly into the ear.
Murphy worked on these for seven years, and now has two versions available – the bulkier earHerospot and the sleeker earHeropro, with the latter aimed not at athletes as much as security personnel. Both models are available now for around $150.