Headphones come in all shapes and sizes, and yet all of them have one single function to perform. With them, we isolate ourselves from the world to listen to what our heart cherishes most and mind takes pleasure in. They have always been an instrument of separation, a tool to privatize our public spaces.
Let us not digress. You are here to look for unconventional headphones for exceptional needs.
What compels manufacturing companies to redesign their model to make it fit to a particular need? Human anatomy and human aspirations. Some are born with extra large heads, and some aspire to be the best in the world. An ordinary pair of headsets is of no good to them for they have exceptional needs.
Here I have compiled a list of unconventional headphones you would certainly find interesting, or perhaps weird.
HEADPHONES FOR BIG HEADS:
It is not uncommon in this strange world to encounter someone with an exceptionally large head. Science, and anatomy in particular, calls them Macrocephalic humans. They suffer through a genetic ailment. An unfit headphone might be the least of sufferings in their life, but fortunately, it is the one that can be put away.
Most industries acknowledge their existence and understand their suffering. They do so designing products exclusively for big heads. Headphone manufacturing companies are one of them. The evidence for this is the now easy availability of headphones for large heads.
These headphones obviously are large in size, flexible and usually come equipped with larger-than-usual earcups. Just like regular headphones, they are available in different designs suitable for different purposes: people with large heads have needs similar to that of regular users-binge watching videos, movies and tv series, and listening to their favorite music. Moreover, for gaming enthusiasts a wide variety of such headphones is also available on the Amazon.
HEADPHONES FOR PEOPLE WITH HEARING DEFICIENCIES:
I highly doubt you have ever heard about headphones for people with hearing impairment unless you are the unfortunate who also suffers through it. The good part is, such headsets exist.
In headphone lingo, these headsets are called bone conduction headphones due to their superior technology. Unlike Traditional headphones and earbuds which rely on the eardrum vibration to send signals to the cochlea.
Instead, the bone conduction headphones rely on cheek bones vibrations to send signals directly to the cochlea. The audio quality might seem degraded, but those who have one ear impaired can cherish the stereo sound.
Bone conduction headphones are also used by regular users, but the technology has not yet fully developed to allow for a crystal clear audio quality. Many use it for safety concerns as it helps them to stay aware of their outside environment. For now, only those who are suffering for mild to severe hearing loss can reap all the benefits of it.
HEADPHONES FOR NOISE CANCELLATION:
Well in a sense nearly all headphones are designed to block sound from entering the ears, so one can listen to music in private mode. But noise cancellation headphones take it to the extreme. For garden hobbyists there can be no other ideal match than noise cancelling lawn mowing headsets.
There are two key methods these headphones use to completely cancel out the noise from the outside environment: analog and electronic. The first method involves the re-engineering of the basic design of the headsets. For over ear headphones, ear cups are enlarged and thickly padded to stop sound leaking.
The other way the headsets manufacturing companies use to achieve this is to design special microphones that add anti-noise frequencies with the music playback to filter out the unwanted sound frequencies. i.e. noise.
HEADPHONES FOR SWIMMERS:
Headphones technology for swimmers has not fully developed yet. These headphones don't just have to live up to the standards of regular headphones, but also have a few other criteria to be met. The prime criteria they have to meet is that they have to be completely waterproof under a considerable depth of water.
Many such headphones use bone conduction technology, the functioning of which I have already discussed in detail above. As the bluetooth performance suffers under water, so headphone manufacturing companies had tried an old trick to circumvent this limitation. They took a waterproof mp3 player and combined it with a waterproof headset to make something called Swimp3. You have to wear the whole unit as you swim.
The problem with most of the headsets for swimmers is that they are cumbersome to wear, and get easily damaged if not properly taken care of. But until a groundbreaking technology takes these headphones to a new level, swimmers would have to settle for the clumsy and unreliable headsets.
Conclusion:
This is not the ultimate list of all the unconventional headphones under the sun. But rather an inquiry into the design of headphones and how it is tweaked to best meet the user needs, even to the users with special, or one can say, exceptional needs.