Every once in a while, you will see technology that is just plain outdated. You know, like a typewriter, a black-and-white TV, a cassette recorder, and all kinds of things like that. However, the headphone hasn’t really changed much, including the earbud.

Now imagine if someone just outright changed the technology of how we hear personal sound. This Concept N from Future Lab, Sony’s new R&D offshoot, was being shown off at South by Southwest this past weekend. This device directs sounds upwards toward the listener’s ears, and the wearer can enjoy whatever they are listening to without missing out on the sounds from the surrounding environment.

There are also some motion sensors on the N Concept so it will know how to direct the sound if you are walking towards your bike. Concept N includes the feature of vocal commands for when you want to select a certain song or station.

So, does this mean that we are looking at an era where you don’t have to put anything on or in your ears anymore. I would like to think so. Of course, there is always bone conduction technology like from Aftershokz.

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