Shooting Will No Longer Affect Soldiers’ Hearing

Shooting Will No Longer Affect Soldiers’ Hearing

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

Many soldiers, mostly from the artillery and the engineering corps, complain about hearing impairments sustained during their military service due to the loud noises they were exposed to. A new technology by BAE Systems allows soldiers to hear the commands given at the field without risking damage to their hearing.

Soldiers need to be able to receive audio communications to maximize their awareness and understanding of the challenging environments they are working in, whilst also protecting themselves from extremely loud noises such as gunfire. To address these conflicting requirements, BAE Systems engineers have adapted existing bone conduction technology often used in commercial headphones and hearing aids for the military domain.

This new communications device is meant to improve soldiers’ safety by using body’s natural ability to transmit sound through bone conduction.

A company statement said: “The prototype system will harness the body’s natural ability to transmit sound through bone conduction, transferring messages directly from the soldier’s helmet to the inner ear. It is being developed as part of Company-funded research which aims to reduce the burden on the dismounted soldier through wearable technology”.

Wearable technology is basically any item we wear or put on our bodies that uses some technology. The field of wearable technology has greatly evolved thanks to the minimization capabilities which are rapidly advancing in recent years and allow to implement chips and various circuits in any item or accessory.

Mohammed Akhmad, Principal Scientist at BAE Systems, said that the researchers have recognized that on the battlefield, auditory situational awareness is essential for armed forces personnel. With this system, the soldiers can safeguard their hearing with ear protectors whilst still clearly receiving military voice communications, to enable them to perform their roles efficiently and safely.

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