Most anyone who's used noise-canceling headphones knows that hearing the right noise at the right time can be vital. Someone might want to erase car horns when working indoors, but not when walking along busy streets. Yet people can't choose what sounds their headphones cancel.
It’s very difficult for me to ignore background voices when I go to a public place. It would be amazing if I could wear earphones that only let me hear the people closest to me.
Have you tried regular ear plugs? The blue silicone ones are great in most settings once you get used to them
Same. I just stay home.
Have the headphones convert the conversation to text then have the headphones read back the text in the voice of the speaker. And you could give them a southern drawl.
Have headphones and AR glasses working together to give people subtitles
Try Adaptive Mode on AirPods Pro, they worked wonders for me when I didn’t like the loud sounds but still wanted to listen to people around me.
Just buy loops ear plugs. They’re not noise canceling (or even powered) but they’re designed to cut down on frequencies that carry far without over-squelching nearby sounds and speech.