World's First Smart Wireless Headphones Tracks Heartbeat
The headphones is a fitness tracker, an MP3 player and more.
Munich-based BRAGI announced on Tuesday that it now has a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for developing the world's first "smart" wireless headphones. The company is cramming audio, wearable tech, biometrics and telephony functionality into a single product called The Dash.
As of Tuesday, the company has 1,117 backers pledging $216,094 USD out of the $260,000 goal. The Kickstarter campaign still has 47 days to go, meaning the project will likely meet its goal in no time at all. Even more, the project received more than $100,000 in the first twenty-four hours.
BRAGI revealed that the Dash is an all-in-one pair of discreet wireless stereo in-ear headphones. They're also an MP3 player thanks to 4 GB of local storage, a microphone, a Bluetooth headset, a USB stick, a fitness tracker, a heart rate monitor, and a sports watch.
"The Dash tracks movements like pace, steps, cadence and distance and measures heart rate, oxygen saturation and energy spent. Real time acoustic feedback is also provided - even without an attached smartphone," reads the company's press release.
The company's announcement also explains that the earphones deliver clear voice quality through an embedded ear bone microphone. Wearers can also filter out ambient sounds by swiping on the surface of the earphone, allowing users to turn the "transparent" filtering on or off.
The smart wireless headphones were created by Danish entrepreneur Nikolaj Hviid, former Head of Design at a global leading audio company.
In addition to the flash storage, the earphones feature a 32-bit ARM-based processor, a digital signal processor, a 100 mAh battery, Bluetooth 4.0 with APT-X, and an analog front end with 22-bit ADC.
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The sensor aspect includes a 3-axis accelerometer, an ambient microphone, a thermometer, a 5 field capacitive sensor, an ear bone microphone, a Red+IR LED and an optical sensor. Somewhere in there is a microUSB port for recharging the battery.
BRAGI will release a free Android and iOS app when the product finally launches. There will also be an SDK for developers to get open access to processed and unprocessed data feeds.
The Kickstarter project currently has nine levels of funding, ranging from $2 or more to $2,999 or more. The latter level grants the investor the developer special, priority handling, email and instant message access to the company. There's also a trip with a friend to Munich during the Oktoberfest.
For more information about the The Dash, or to make a pledge, head to the Kickstarter campaign here.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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dalethepcman This would be some cool wearable tech and I am all for advances, but I don't see how they can fit the CPU, DSP, Bluetooth module, battery, microphone, accelerometer, thermostat, speaker and 4gb memory chip with a mini USB plug into my ear...Reply
Even if it is possible to connect all this, how long would the battery last with so many devices always taking a trickle. -
nevilence I think it sounds like a pretty sweet bit of tech, however I would ditch the accelerometer and thermostat, biometrics arent of much use to me, still very cool thoughReply -
JOSHSKORN Damn I'd better clean my ears out a bit more often if whatever's going into my ears is going to be plugged into my computer, and vice versa.Reply -
lpedraja2002 Wow just saw the video and this just sounds too awesome to be true, if they work as advertised then this will be my first pair of of earbuds that cost more than $8Reply