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Comment by Falling3 | Hacker News Reader

They do sit in the ear like a low-profile earbud. You can kind of tell from some of the photos (but the video makes it more obvious) that these aren't using the pierced hole of the model's ear. They're sitting on the ear canal opening. The video also shows some of the interaction similar to an airpod tap.

edit: Yea, I assumed wrong as several commenters pointed out.

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Are you sure? To me in the video it definitely seems like they are using an actual piercing, @ 1:05 you can see it swing away from her ear

edit:

In the pdf link above it states

> "Ear Jewelry with Wireless Audio Device" provides a headset apparatus in which the audio device extends through the piercing in the wearer's ear, with the signal path passing through the piercing of the ear itself from a wireless communications device at the first end to the sound production unit at the opposite end.

At 1:10 you can see someone attaching the backing to the earring

I don't think that's accurate. Looking at the patent application (courtesy of klyrs below, https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2017049261A1/en), it is indeed an earring that fits into a person's pierced ears. The speaker reaches up to and maybe into the ear canal, but unliked bud earphones, they are not held in place by the speaker.

In the linked pdf, see pages 1, 37, 38, 39 and 41 for diagrams. In the background, they also say "a headset apparatus in which the audio device extends through the piercing in the wearer's ear."

Scott_s, that's right. We use the piercing of the ear. But we are also working on a clip-on version for those who don't have pierced ears. Also, as you said, the speaker reaches unto the ear canal (which helps support the speaker somewhat as well.)

You might consider variants that use a conch piercing or a stretched earlobe piercing instead - I'm pretty sure, among the earring wearers of the affluent world, far more have stretched earlobes than have unpierced earlobes, and probably also more have conch piercings.

Conch piercing will likely be an easy adaptation, but the stretched earlobe variant sounds daunting. An interesting design challenge for sure.

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