Futuristic audio technology will beam music directly to your head
New futuristic audio technology developed in Israel allows music to be played in a personās head without any hź¦eadphones or wires.
Noveto Systems is launching its new desktop device — the SoundBeamer 1.0 — on Friday, promising customers the chance to listen to music, watch TV and play computer games with little chance of disturbing anyone else.
The product works by using something called āsound beaming.ā It employs a 3-D sensing module that first locates and then tracks the earš¦ās position and uses ultrasonic waves to send audio to the listener, creating sound pockets around their ears.
While sound beaming is not new, Noveto has createdš» the first branded consumer item to employ the tech and has plans to unveil a āsmaller, sexierā version of the prototype in time for Christšmas 2021.
This week, buyers will have the option of using a traditional stereoą¹ sound, which will hit both ears evenly, or a 3-D option that creates a 360 degree audš«io experience that envelopes the listener, the company said.
āThe listening sensation is straight out of a sci-fi movie. The 3-D sound is so close it feelšs like itās inside your ears while also in front, above and behindš them,ā the after a recent demo.
āThe demo inclź¦¬udes nature video clips of swans on a lake, bees buzzing and a babbling brook, where the listener feels completely š»transported into the scene.ā
Somehow, the device knows which ą“ears to target and follows the listener wherever they go without the need to give directions.
āMost peoš °ple just say, āWow, I really donāt believe it,āā said šSoundBeamer product manager Ayana Wallwater.
āYou donāt believe it becauseš it sounds likeš a speaker, but no one else can hear it ā¦ itās supporting you and youāre in the middle of everything. Itās happening around you,ā she continued.
āYou donāt need to tell the device where you are. Itās not streaming to oš°ne exact placeā¦ It follows you wherever you go. So itās personally for you ā follows you, plays what you wšŗant inside your head.ā
The most others in the room could hear is a ālittle bitā of sound, Wallwater explained, but āyou donāt geš·t the volume.ā
āThis is what we dream of,ā the product manager added. āA world where we get the sound you want. You donāt need to disturb others andā others donāt get disturbed by your sound. But you can still interact with them.ā
Because the device is šheadphone-free, the listener can still hear other things going on in the room.
Noveto expects the new product to be an earphone-free solution to many of lifeās mundane annoyances. Office workšÆers can play music or listen to conference calls without bothering their colleagues and people in relationships can blast their favorite Metallica album horror movie with ālittle chance of disturbing their significant other.
šThe new tech is so anomalous itās haārd for the companyās CEO to even put into words.
āThe brain doesnāt understand what it doesnāt know,āā Christophe Ramstein said.
When he first trš¼ied out the device, he questioned how it was different from other listening experiences.
āI was thinking, āYeah, but is it the same with headphones?ā No, because I have the freedom and itās like I have the freedom of doing what I want to do. And I have these sounds playing in my head as there would be something happening here, which š«is difficult to explain because we have no rš·eference for that,ā the CEO said.
His compašred the experišence to the first time he tried out an iPod when the sleek listening device was first created in the early-aughts.
āI was like, āOh, my God. Whatās that?ā I think sound beaming is something that is as disš¤Ŗšruptive as that,ā Ramstein explained.
āThereās something to be said about it doesź§nāt exist before. Thereās the freedom of using it. And itās really amazing.ā
With Post wires