In the near future we wont have to check which earbud is left and right.

In Japan, scientists have just solved one of the most annoying thing about headphones, so you do not keep track which is left and right.
Research World is dedicated to solving many problems, and not everyone has to do with global warming or world hunger. Japan Science and Technology Agency has invented a motion sensor for headphones that eliminates the need to keep track of which channel is left and right.

The sensor is mounted on one of the ear parts and detects whether it is pointing towards or away from your ear. Pointing it towards the left channel audio is pumped out, pointing it down is the right sound played.

Universal Earphones Project named project, and right now there is no ready-made products with technology. But we guess that there will not be long before manufacturers are opening their eyes and begin to implement this life-saving solution for people who do not have the time or energy to take an extra look on his headphones before they are inserted into the ears.

Universal Earphones: Earphones with Automatic Side and Shared Use Detection from Kohei Matsumura on Vimeo.