Logan Strain January 5th, 2017
Going out with your special someone is a nice way to reconnect and treat yourself. But when you’re in public, there’s always one major obstacle in the way of successfully chatting up your significant other: other people.
Specifically, the other people who create the background roar of any sufficiently packed restaurant, club, or public park infested with Pokémon Go players. The rumbling of dozens of conversations makes it impossible to chat without leaning in far enough to risk lower back injury. LIZN, an upcoming hearable device, claims it can solve that problem by making your sweetie's voice come in loud and clear.
At CES 2017, Nanna Morck Rugholm, a representative of LIZN, explained how the device works. The LIZN earbuds fit snugly inside your ears. They isolate and amplify sounds created by consonants, particularly K, L, M, N, S. When these sounds cut through the noise, someone who is close to you can be heard clearly, and background mummering is drowned out.
While wearing LIZN, you can hear someone more clearly by looking at them. “They’re pointing where you’re looking,” Rugholm explained.
In addition to making intimate conversations in noisy environments possible, Rugholm speculated that LIZN’s hearables may also encourage people to be more social. Some don’t enjoy going out in public spaces simply because they feel overwhelmed by noisy crowds and can’t speak to their family and friends. LIZN may encourage homebodies to get out of the house more often.
“That’s why we’re doing it,” Rugholm said. “It’s so people can go out and hear what others are saying, but without using a hearing aid all the time.”
The device does need to be charged, but fortunately, the carrying case doubles as a mobile charging station.
The devices LIZN showed off at CES are just prototypes. The real versions are expected to launch in May. And if you’re so inclined to accessorize your ear canal, they’ll be available in red, blue, and beige.
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