Amazon's next noise-canceling headphones could turn off when someone yells your name - CNET

Here in New York City, noise-canceling headphones are as important as comfortable walking shoes. I throw a set in my bag every moing to fight the sound of shrilly subway trains, noisy construction crews and that saxophone busker guy who always manages to find my subway car.

Muting the world might sound like bliss, but to walk around a busy city with only four senses in use is a dangerous game. They might be annoying, but some noises you actually need to hear, like a car ho or a siren.

Granted, some headphones like the Master & Dynamic MH40s have a manual pass-through button that mutes your music, but the industry needs to do better before someone actually gets hurt.

Amazon might be working on the first headphones that can save lives.

The company was just awarded a patent on July 19 for a noise-canceling headphone that automatically clicks off when it "hears" certain sound pattes, frequencies and even keywords like a name. The feature would allow the wearer to instantly tune back into his or her surroundings, and hopefully get out of the way of oncoming traffic.