Mind-blowing AR Here Earbuds Let You Customize Your Listening Experience

While the whole world is focusing on building wearables, Doppler Labs is channeling its efforts into producing hearables, technology that optimizes the way you hear and listen to the world. It latest creation, the Here Buds, is an AR audio-tuner that let you customize live sounds. It might sound too sci-fi to be true, but according to first users, it is actually as good as they say.

Here Active Listening System is targeted at musicians and music addicts that need more from an audio experience. They are the ones who find improvements on great hits and/or spend time composing tunes. That being said, even if you dedicate more time to visual arts (photography, painting, drawing, etc.), you won’t be able to pass the chance to try these earbuds – they are revolutionary!

Each bud has its own micro-processor that readjusts audio in real-time, as you listen to it. So, let’s say you’re in a coffee shop, working on some project, all the while listening to the calming, reconforting jazz music in the background. Unfortunately, at the table next to you two friends are arguing loudly about who-knows-what-personal-drama. Instead of putting your headphones on, thus giving up good music, you put the Here buds on. Now, you’re able to cancel the disturbing voices with a Noise Mask filter, while enhancing the jazz music.

How they work

The intelligent earbuds connect to your iPhone through Bluetooth, where an app helps you set up the device according to your tastes. You have control over every part of the EQ and can add special effects or masks. Once you customize it completely, you will hear exactly what you love, in real time – no latency.

Their battery lasts for about 6 hours after which you can charge them in a small case that comes with the product. It’s convenient, since you can carry it everywhere. The Here buds have soft touch covers that can take any shape.

The Drawback

The only problem with such an advanced device for audio tuning is that it requires time and a bit of knowledge to make perfect tweaks. You have to know what every control does and then find the perfect combination of sounds and effects. Once you get around it, you’ll discover it’s the best accessory to a music festival like Coachella. In fact, Doppler Labs has partnered with it; Doppler will offer one pair of earbuds to every person who buys a ticket. As Doppler Labs cofounder Fritz Lanman puts it, 

… Coachella is the perfect way to introduce the world to the concept of ‘audio augmented reality’ – and to establish Here not only as a magical product but also a social product that is designed to further tune you into your world, unlike a headphone – which one can obviously not wear in a social setting

Here earbuds are now shipping for Kickstarter backers of the project, opening the way to further upgrades including “real-time language translations and voice-input/audio-output mainstream UX paradigms”.