Do you have a spouse or significant other who snores? If you’re not willing to call it quits on your relationship in the name of a good night’s sleep, you may want to consider shelling out for a pair of futuristic earbuds, developed by a team of ex-Nokia engineers. Like supercharged ear plugs, the QuietOn Sleep earbuds use cutting-edge noise-canceling technology to block out low-frequency sounds.
The earbuds trace back to the early 2010s, when company founder Janne Kyllöne became interested in noise-canceling technology after enduring countless business flights. In 2015, Kyllöne and fellow Nokia engineer Matti Nisula manufactured the first prototypes and had them tested and validated. This lead to a 2016 Indiegogo campaign, which raised $1.3 million. The first-generation earbuds were successfully delivered to backers and, by last year, more than 15,000 units had been shipped to 120 countries around the world. Now the team is back with a follow-up, improving on the original earbuds in a few key ways.
“After one year being on the market, we’ve learned from the market and realized how big the demand is,” Kyllöne told Digital Trends. “People crave a device that can help them improve their wellbeing, whether for their snoring spouses, or sleeping in hotels while traveling for business, or dealing with noisy neighbors.”
The new earbuds are 40 percent smaller and 50 percent lighter than their predecessors and boast improved snore-blocking technology. They are designed to fit snugly in your ears and from there, they then emit a special phase-shifted sound that is designed to block out any low-frequency noise below 500 Hz. Carrying 20 hours of battery life, they are mainly advertised as being useful for blocking out snoring, although they should do equally well at masking sounds like the hum of a subway train or airplane cabin.
The Indiegogo campaign to fund the new earbuds has finished now, but you can still pledge money to hopefully secure a pair for yourself. As ever, we recommend that would-be customers familiarize themselves with the risks of crowdfunding campaigns. However, if you’re nonetheless happy to go ahead, a pair of QuietOn Sleep earbuds will set you back $159. Shipping is set to take place in October.
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