Volume-Limiting Earbuds

I previously complained about earbuds and the cords that they are attached to. This isn't to say I don't like earbuds, because they are quite convenient. I once read that earbuds deliver three times the amount of sound energy to the tympanic membrane that external headphones deliver. The tympanic membrane is the fancy word for eardrum. Anyway, the chance to harm ones hearing is very high by comparison.

Earbuds are compact and lightweight, and are not as uncomfortable as regular headphones. Plus, they are cheaper, and tend to be included in any audio device packaging.

Someday, we will have a problem with deafness, I fear. The music some kids listen to is very loud, and when they walk by, you can hear it from their earbuds. That means that permanent damage is being done to their ears. IPods have volume-limiting circuitry built in, but that means having to program it to work. Plus, other devices don't have such circuitry, so that leaves iPod holding the bag.

This was one of my first brilliant ideas. It's right up there with ring-through tones. Wouldn't it be cool if earbud headphones had some sort of volume-limiting circuitry built in to them? It could be a simple circuit, a microphone in the earbud that transmits the sound back to a circuit that measures the volume of the sound as it bounces off the eardrum, and a filter that decreases the amount of energy that is allowed through.

It might be too big to fit in the earbud itself, but might be integrated into the connector, where it plugs into the jack. Any power necessary to run it would come from the same source as the sound itself. Drain on the battery would be minor, but worth it in any event if hearing is saved. There are probably other drawbacks to this, but it is a concept right now. Maybe someone else can run with it and make a million bucks. If you do, please remember me. Ten percent is what I ask, but I could settle for less if I had to.