US military's ‘Molar Mic’

Earlier this month, Sonitus Technologies announced that it has been awarded the second phase of its contract with the US Department of Defense (DOD) to provide the US Air Force with an two-way radio system, ATAC (aka the ‘Molar Mic’, that has miniaturised its microphone and speaker-transducer components into a device that clips to a user’s back teeth.

It allows the user to talk and hear without external devices attached to the head and its placement on the teeth uses the body itself to block external noise when speaking, while also leveraging the user’s teeth and jawbone to create an auditory path for hearing. This, the company claims, enables the user’s head and face to be unobstructed and results in enhanced situational awareness and the ability to add or remove personal protective equipment without breaking communication. The device uses a patented audio interface and near-field magnetic induction technology

“Sonitus Technologies is honoured to bring this game changing technology to our country’s elite military, making them safer and more effective by enabling them to communicate clearly – even in the most extreme situations,” said Peter Hadrovic, CEO of Sonitus Technologies. “The voice interface sustains communications in dangerous and challenging environments. The Molar Mic is the first in our family of solutions that conventional approaches are unable to address.”