Doppler Labs Kickstarts 'Bionic Ear'

 

Doppler Labs, known for making state-of-the-art ear plugs, on Tuesday launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Here Active Listening system, which takes noise-canceling technology to a new level.

Unlike typical noise-canceling headphones, Here's Bluetooth earbuds allow a listener to customize ambient sound, not just block it out. Paired with a smartphone app, Here can be used to control the volume of sounds around a listener, mix those sounds with slider controls, and even apply sound effects to them.

The technology behind Here is unlike anything on the market today, Doppler claims. It uses a series of signal processing algorithms to target specific frequency ranges and modify sound as it enters a listener's ears.

The incoming audio is processed in real-time and played back all within 30 microseconds, or less than 1/10,000 of an eye blink, so there's no perceivable latency for the listener.

Here's white buds are designed to appear relatively unobtrusive in the ear. Three sizes of silicon tips are packaged with Here to provide a secure and comfortable fit for users.

Doppler estimates the buds will run for six hours on a single charge and the system includes a charging case good for two additional charges on the fly.

The company's KickStarter campaign, which reached more than two-thirds of its US$250,000 goal within two days of its announcement, has several participation levels.