In April 2016, Doppler Labs handed prototypes of their active noise-listening earbuds, named Here Active Listening, to Coachella festival-goers. The twist: these earbuds didn’t play audio. Instead, they worked like a hearing aid, amplifying and attenuating the sounds for the listener. Through an accompanying app, users were able to filter out what they did and didn’t want to hear. Here Active Listening earbuds have received all sorts of accolades, including SXSW’s Best of Show, Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year and Best in Product Design from Cannes Lions.
Today, Doppler Labs is announcing another flagship product, the Here One, which the company dubs “the first all-in-one wireless listening system.”
The Here One system consists of two wireless earbuds and a connected app. They work like traditional wireless headphones, allowing wearers to stream music along with making and answering phone calls. The Here One system also connects to a number of virtual assistants, like Siri, Google Now, Alexa or Cortana. Essentially, it combines the abilities of your smartphone with the technology of wireless earbuds, which is a very new tech feature in mainstream audio; for example, Samsung only recently unveiled the IconX, the first pair of truly wireless earbuds produced by a major manufacturer.
However, the Here One system separates itself by utilizing the same technology as Doppler’s Here Active Listening — wearers can isolate specific frequencies (via the compatible mobile app) and adjust their volumes. This means that listeners can hear (or not hear) their surroundings and stream audio simultaneously. If you’re at a sporting event, Here One enables you to listen to both radio commentary and the live action from the stands. If you’re commuting via bike, it allows you to listen to music and nearby cars. And for concert-goers, Here One helps you experience live music without the damaging affects of hearing really, really loud music.
Starting today, you can pre-order Here One for $299 (US only, international shipping coming soon). They will start shipping and be available for purchase at retailers this November.
