Overview
You know when you're trying to read on a train but you just can't tune out that other passenger's borezo conversation? Or when you're at a festival and you want to turn up the base? It's these times that you wish you could just flick a switch in your ear and change the levels, but laugh the thought away because we're humans, not robots, and we don't have switches anyway. Well that may be true, but a Silicon Valley start-up have developed wireless earbuds which, when placed in your ear, can give you control over what you hear — and what you don't.
It's called the Here Active Listening system, and it's basically a fancy add-on to your actual, working ear. The earbuds are controlled by a smartphone app and, once in your ear, can be used to modify the sounds around you. What does this mean? Well it would allow you to eliminate sounds (say, a crying baby), increase the bass and amplify sounds, such the voice of the person you're talking to — which would be great in loud environments, like gigs and festivals.
This last point is probably why creators Doppler Labs have decided to release the product at Coachella this year. Here will be fully integrated into the festival, and will give punters the opportunity to access exclusive 'listening experiences' and audio filters. There will even be presets optimised for each stage.
It will be the first opportunity for people to purchase the earbuds since the project raised over $600,000 on Kickstarter last year. There's no set date on when the rest of the us not attending Coachella can try them out, but the price point is set to be around $200-300.
Via Mashable.