NTT has revealed that it’s working on new active noise cancellation tech designed for open-ear headphones, like the nwm ONE open-ear headphones. These types of headphones let in surrounding sounds, which means users can stay aware of important alerts and announcements at all times.
Innovative Hardware and Software
To create the extra noise-cancelling effect that minimizes sound leakage from open-ear headphones, NTT has engineered new hardware and software solutions. The hardware includes reference and error feedback microphones, featuring ultra-low latency circuitry, alongside specially designed speakers. On the software side, they use ANC algorithms that have low computation delays and don’t require much processing power.
Improved Noise Reduction
This combination leads to a notable decrease in noise within the 1 kHz to 3 kHz frequency range, outperforming existing ANC technology for open-ear headphones that typically only cancels noise below 1 kHz. Testing showed an average noise reduction of 7.8 dB, with some instances reaching up to 13.7 dB. NTT plans to further develop this ANC technology before making it available commercially, aiming to broaden the ANC frequency range bandwidth.
Upcoming Showcase and Availability
The new technology will be presented at the 2024 R&D Forum, scheduled for November 25-29, 2024. For those eager to try out NTT's open-ear headphones with active noise cancellation, the current model, the nwm ONE without ANC, is available on Amazon for $299.
