... but you could try headphones that tip you off to avoid a collision

‘Directional haptic outputs may be used to direct a wearer’s attention along a direction’

APPLE is secretly working on new headphones that help direct pedestrians so they do not have to look where they are going.

The tech giant has patented a design for its wireless AirPods headphones that would “tap” the inside of your ear canals to get your attention, directing you to move left or right depending on which ear receives the sensation.

The system could also reduce the number of pedestrian accidents caused by “twalking”, or texting while walking.

Other uses for the “haptic” earphones could include tapping inside your left ear to encourage you to move your head to the left to look at a specific part of a video, Apple suggests. It could also help direct blind people while walking.

Alternatively, people speaking on a conference call could be assigned directions. If the person speaking changes, your earphones could tap your ear that corresponds to the current speaker.

If everyone on the call is speaking at once, your earphones could tap both of your ears to tell you that this is a lively conversation. “Directional haptic outputs may be used to direct a wearer’s attention along a direction towards a virtual location of a participant in a multiparty telephone conference,” according to the patent.

“As another example, a directional haptic output may be used to direct a user’s attention towards the position of a graphical object in a virtual or augmented reality environment.”

Apple also suggested placing miniature vibrating panels on the inside of people’s glasses so that taps could be produced on the left or right side of people’s heads to produce a similar effect. The company has also planned to place a vibrating panel in the centre of a pair of glasses, meaning vibrations could be sent to the top of the nose.

Other pieces of headgear considered by Apple include vibrating hats and helmets. The taps would be similar to the effect produced by the Apple Watch, which includes a haptic sensor that sits on the wearer’s skin that can create the feeling of taps on the wrist.

Apple’s decision to patent the system doesn’t guarantee that future earphones will include the feature, however. Major technology companies regularly apply to patent ideas that they have no plans to implement.

However, this isn’t the first time researchers have created headphones to keep the tech-obsessed safe on the streets. In 2019, a team at Columbia University, led by Dr Fred Jiang, created headphones capable of deciphering hundreds of street sounds to warn pedestrians of imminent danger. The headphones have miniature microphones embedded within to detect the sound of approaching vehicles.

A processor works out which sounds pose a threat and, if the hazard is close enough, it sends an audio alert to jolt the pedestrian into action.

In the UK, a survey in 2019 found that 43 per cent of young people have walked into something or someone while checking their phone.

Antwerp in Belgium has introduced “text-walking lanes”.