The headphone market has undergone an evolution of sorts over the last couple of years or so. Perhaps the most obvious change we’ve all noticed is the (lack of) 3.5mm headphone jacks on most mobile devices–and even tablets—which has led to the proliferation of TWS options. But what else does the future hold?
Noveto, an Israeli tech firm, is working on a “speaker” that beams music to you. No headphones are required, and the audio is basically directed to your ears with the help of sensors to track your ears, as well as dual transducer arrays.
What’s also interesting is that the transducers push the ultrasonic audio to “just outside” your ear canals, which creates a private listening sphere of sorts. They’re calling it a “3D sensory listening experience”—and people who are in your close proximity shouldn’t be able to hear what you’re listening to.
Noveto says that there are three main benefits to this sort of listening technology:
- A “new sensory listening experience” (as mentioned earlier)
- Private listening, without needing headphones
- Enjoy audio without disturbing others (which sounds a lot like private listening, to be fair)
In any case, the speaker doesn’t actually look all that futuristic. Despite the technology within, it looks like a regular ol’ speaker—although this is certainly not conventional by any means.
The SoundBeamer 1.0 isn’t available yet, although a release is planned for December 2021. Noveto says that the speaker is designed for video conferencing, but it can be used for anything else—music, podcasts, and even meditation. All you need to do is to pair the speaker to a computer and tablet.
For some context, Noveto signed an LOI (letter of intent) in 2019 with CEVT AB, an innovation centre for Geely Group in Europe, for the technology we’re talking about today. At the time, the idea was to use the technology within Geely vehicles, although we haven’t heard any updates on that just yet.
So, what do you think? No inkling of pricing just yet, but you can be sure that this will definitely be an expensive product to buy.
