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Bose Launches 'Hearphones' That Act Like Hearing Aids (theverge.com)
Bose has launched a new pair of earbuds called Hearphones that augment the sounds of the world around you, letting you select what kinds of outside noises you'd like to listen to. "Hearphones users can also pick which direction those outside noises come from, with what appears to be specific emphasis on helping people hear voices better in crowded places," reports The Verge: A "Bose Hear" app was recently added to the App Store, and offers a little more detail about what Hearphones are capable of. You can turn the "world volume" up or down, and change the direction you're hearing those sounds from. There are preset modes like "television," "focused conversation," "airplane," "doctor's office," or "gym," all of which presumably block out different sounds from different directions while letting in things like speech. A user manual was also recently submitted to the FCC. No pricing or availability can be found anywhere on Bose's website or in the app. Here's some more from that app's description: "Innovative technologies amplify softer sounds, let you turn down the distractions in noisy environments and focus on what you want to hear -- like a conversation across the table. You can also use them as controllable noise cancelling [sic] wireless headphones for your music or calls or just for quiet. Take control of the noise, and hear the world better."
First thing dudes will do is turn on the "tune out wife" setting. Amirite fellas?
A couple of minutes spent with Google suggests that, contrary to my knee-jerk reaction, these would probably not be subject to regulation (see section three of this. Wording for the product blurb, in conjunction with that fda document, suggest that they're thought this through :-)
It would still be fun to see Bose making a telemarketing-style add for their own hearphones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Grrp168FtM
Is this because Bose have just discovered that half-deaf people won't notice how terrible their gear is?
It will make no difference to what happens inside. Fill the middle ear with gelatin, and nothing will ever sound right, no matter what.
The first Sony Walkman had two headphone jacks plus a built in microphone even though the device was a playback only. The idea was that when two people were "sharing" the music, you could press a button so the other person could hear what you were saying. Of course, this feature quickly disappeared along with the dual headphone jacks, probaly because people rarely used this feature in practice, but a neat idea nonetheless.
So these will cost 3x to 4x what a pair of hearing aids cost? And not work eve 1/4 as well? That if its like the Wave Radio...
Exactly right, Mr. Trump. Grab em by the pussy!
Hillary lost, get over it.
A "Bose Hear" app ...
The article also mentions that R&D by others is trying to make smart headphones the Next Big Thing.
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/12/5/13841776/stages-hero-headphones-noise-cancellation-augemented-sound#0
Physically they're a black torc that fits loosely about two thirds around the neck. Attached a bit back from the front opening are two tethered earbuds equipped with Bose's really good tips, which come in three sizes. On the right hand tether is a small remote. On the outside of the earbuds are subtle bronze colored microphones.
Aside from being slightly smaller then other torc-style headphones they're not immediately different. They have their control on a remote, and of course the microphones on the earbuds, but nothing screams out also-for-hearing.
Putting them on in 360 mode was like listening to a live mic through, well, very good headphones. However using the app (we were using iPods) it was easy to control the base and treble to focus on what we were listening for - voices.
It was when the Hearphones were switched into directly-in-front mode they got exciting. In a room full of simulated loud coffee shop noise, and a dozen other demo-ees having conversations with their Bose-partners, it all faded away except for whomever I was facing.
Face this way and I could follow this conversation, face that and the other table came in clearly. For years I've had to position myself strategically in bars, restaurants, clubs and conferences - watching folks to ensure I'm following what they're saying. Suddenly that wasn't a concern.
I don't need hearing aids, and while I've spent some amount of time in loud clubs I've not particularly abused my ears. However coming on 50 years my ears aren't particularly reliable in noisy environments and now, suddenly, everything extraneous was muffled.
Sometimes an advanced technology really is like magic (and a really good demo.)
There's also a everything-in-front-of-you mode (180 degrees vs 360 degrees and about 35 degrees for those keeping track.) That would be for sitting at a table of people facing multiple correspondents.
Of course there's an app; iOS and Android. They apologized several times no Windows Mobile version (nobody looked concerned.) However the remote is intuitively designed and did everything necessary so no needing to be rudely screen-peering in the middle of a conversation. Volume up/down, treble/base, and switching between customizable modes.
The other big demo topic was being able to filter a TV or movie theater. Focus on the center speaker, crank the treble, and suddenly dialog popped - no more scrubbing back for what-just-got-said?
That they're also conventional Bluetooth headphones, with the noise-cancelling Dr. Bose invented, was taken for granted.
So, did I buy them?
Not yet. Their price is reasonable for being top-of-the-line noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones + the Hearphone technology but, a bit rich for me. Right now. However after another chaotic holiday party, a conversation where I mishear something important, or a conference where I'm straining to make out the content - yeah, probably.
Oh and if you're condemned to an "open office" cattle pen oh hella yeah. Selective noise cancelling with a music alternative would almost make those hellholes bearable.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
I'm very very hopeful that they've included the ability to downmix to mono. This could be a life changer for me.
First sell earphones to damage peoples hearing to the point that they have difficulty with conversation, then sell them the cure to this new problem - great job :)
She won the popular vote by a record margin, and with the mounting evidence of Russian meddling (with even staunch Republicans calling for an investigation) in the election the electoral college will have some thing to think about.
You can also use them as controllable noise cancelling [sic] wireless headphones for your music or calls or just for quiet.
"Cancelling" is a perfectly acceptable spelling: http://grammarist.com/spelling...
I applaud BeauHD's efforts though - it's good to see an editor here paying attention to spelling and grammar.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
I have some minor common hearing loss in the speech recognition frequencies. One of my friends had to retire from teaching at age 50 due to progressive hearing loss. Her hearing was damaged in the military by being too close to artillery guns. Of course, the Veterans Administration denies that that is possible.
She told me there are various problems with the hearing aid industry: a few large companies dominate the market. The audio quality is poor. Most of the fitters simply measure your hearing and increase the volume in the frequencies you are deficient in. This may work for some, but what works better for her and many others is dialing in 'the equalizer' settings for herself. It's like using a mallet to tweak screws on your eyeglasses.
Meanwhile, the companies are moving in the direction like offering $X,000* hearing aids that cross talk left and right (anyone remember Sonic Holography) and do fancy processing. One of my other friends recently got hearing aids with this new tech and loves it.
Meanwhile, listen up. Many people, like me, when we lose our hearing slowly do not experience a gradual decrease in the volume of sound. Our brains try to 'fix' the loss of acute hearing in the speech zone by 'turning up' the subjective volume of what we hear. It is a controversial phenomena called hyperacusis. When I go into a loud, 'bright' environment, like a restaurant with noise reflective surfaces, it sounds to me extremely, painfully loud. I oft bring earplugs.
Anyway, there is already an 'underground' for cheaper hearing aids by using mics on cell phones and signal processing apps, all based on turning over the control on the 'knobs' and 'sliders' to the user. And doing it for around $500 or less.
The hearing aid industry in one ripe for disruption, and a fine example of what happens when only a few companies dominate an industry. One effect is they fail in innovate. Another is they fail to, um, listen. To the users. They think that by using accurate measurements all they have to do is to correct for those...with cheap hearing aids that probably screw things up in so many ways. So they offer uber-expensive hearing aids subsidized by health insurance to those that can afford it.
* Irony alert: in a post about hearing aids, I'm going to bring up Stereophile Magazine! Around 2009 or 2011 the lead column in the magazine told the story of a company that had come out with their new flagship speakers. The owner of the company told the Stereophile reporter that he ran into a problem: the speaker was priced at $5,000 a pair. He had resistance from dealers who complained that they could sell more if it were priced at $10,000 a pair. Most potential buyers who had to coin to drop $5,000 on speakers could also afford $10,000, and $10,000 was more convincing to the pool of such buyers that they were getting their monies worth. The writer then made the observation that in the post 2008 economic downturn era with fewer people in the middle class, it makes more sense for companies to chase after those with the money (shades of Willie Sutton). In the future you will be working for the ultrarich trying to sell things to the ultrarich. It makes more sense to try to sell 1,000 $10,000 hearing ads than it does 10,000 $1,000 hearing aids--same money but less product you have to made. Look at Apple's new computer offerings: more money, less functionality.
Another irony: with some mild hearing loss I am totally free to ignore all objective scientific analysis, measurements and test results on audio equipment. What subjectively sounds good to me is what matters, since I am correcting for my hearing issues, not chasing objective accuracy! I may be better served by the highly colored sound of one piece of gear than the highly accurate sound of another piece of gear. Or not.
Interesting that Bose is pushing a hearing aid use case. Only yesterday I received a mail from hereplus talking about their support to the case of hearing loss. I guess this news from Bose was the inspiration behind that mail.