Abstract
The study aimed to examine the impact of primary output opening angle on subjective comfort perception of earbuds. 32 participants were selected for the study, and their external ear models were used to determine the spatial relationship between their ears and half-in-ear earphones. Based on this information, 5 prototypes of earphones were designed, each with a different angle for the primary output opening. 34 participants then wore and evaluated these prototypes for 20 min while performing static and dynamic tasks. Techniques such as reverse engineering, virtual fit, and deviation analysis were utilized to assess the gap and interference between the ear and earphones. The results showed that changing the primary output opening angle of half-in-ear earphones did not significantly affect subjective comfort perception. Objective variables such as the mean and maximum values of interference were found to be correlated with subjective comfort perception. The study concluded that higher levels of interference between the ear and earphone lead to decreased comfort perception. This research provides valuable insights for the design and development of future half-in-ear earphones.
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Yan, Y., Liu, K., Jiang, R., Wang, H. (2023). The Effects of Primary Output Design of True Wireless Earbuds on the Wearing Comfort. In: Marcus, A., Rosenzweig, E., Soares, M.M. (eds) Design, User Experience, and Usability. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14032. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35702-2_30
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