Since the arrival of the first Walkman at the end of the 70s, music follows us everywhere, but also causes stupid and even fatal accidents. The sound in the ears tends to make us less aware of the environment - all the more so with noise cancellation technologies - and the potential dangers it abounds.
Smart AirPods to detect surrounding urban hazards
To prevent us from being stupidly run over by a car, Apple was recently granted the patent for a technology that automatically adapts the sound of your AirPods based on a variety of factors, starting with external noise. Nothing too extraordinary so far, but the system can also feed on GPS data from a connected iPhone or Apple Watch, for example to detect a busy intersection, or a work zone.
The direction of the user can also be taken into account, in order to adjust the volume level in the right or left ear, depending on the position of the potentially dangerous area.
