Hy - hidden wireless earbuds you never have to take off by Third Skin

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Hy - hidden wireless earbuds you never have to take off

Forget your headphones. Wear Hy all day for voice-controlled music, calls, biometrics and more, with a huge battery and hidden fit. En savoir plus

53 670 £ sur 68 000 £

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Projet non financé

L'objectif de financement de ce projet n'a pas été atteint avant le janvier 1.

Prêt-à-porter technologique

Birmingham, UK

Récompenses Campagne FAQ 5 Actus 11 Commentaires 65 Communauté

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1. Karl the Fish le February 7
  
  Haven't recieved 5% discount link yet. Filled out survey 3x. Paid for early bird headphones already. Can you guys still send it?
2. Third Skin Créateur le February 1
  
  Hi Jason, Midhun, (and everyone else who backed),
  
  We're still working our way through the secret perk links, so please bear with us. All of your pledges are *reserved*, so there's no need to panic!
3. Jason Mazur le February 1
  
  Still waiting on my 5% discount..filled out the survey you sent right away then a second time today.. So no super early bird pricing for us initial backers from Kickstarter? You'd think that there would be some level of loyalty for those of us willing to back you a second time. I suppose the emails might be delayed..just surprised.
4. Midhun Sreekumar Menon
  Superbacker
  le January 31
  
  Hi. I did'nt get my 5% discount link till now. I have however backed at Super Early bhird in Indiegogo. I messaged on Indiegogo but no reply. How will I get my discount?
  
  Please respond
5. Third Skin Créateur le January 14
  
  Hi Alex, Randy, Midhun, Megan, Malin and everyone else who's sent us kind words - we've just posted an update about our relaunch on Indiegogo!
  
  We're creating and reserving your spots at the price you pledged on Kickstarter, with an extra 5% off for being awesome. Check out the update at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1124548591/hy-low-profile-wireless-earbuds-with-huge-battery/posts/1783591
6. Alex wakeland le January 13
  
  Ditto still waiting, wanna get in on first batch
7. Randy Arthur le January 11
  
  Any word on a relaunch date?
8. Midhun Sreekumar Menon
  Superbacker
  le January 10
  
  Some suggestions for your relaunch.
  1) Get the design approved by some good reviewers if possible with the prototype
  2) Use backerx.com and backerclub.co for providing additional offers. This will give you access to superbackers and larger Kickstarter backer community
9. Alex wakeland le January 3
  
  Sorry it took me so long to reply, yes we plan on having cell signal most days, but the delay is a danger so generally we use radios With head sets.
  
  These will be funded on the next go, only a matter of time.
10. Morgan Nazarian le January 2
  
  I never saw a plan B but I would love to donate privately not necessarily through Kickstart er since it's all or nothing with them like you mentioned. How do I go about helping your team privately so I can invest in a future I believe you have? I'm willing to donate potentially up to 5,000. US dollars. Please let me hear back from someone. Sfvmorganonline@gmail.com Thanks,
  Morgan Cunningham
11. Marsha Tyszler
  Superbacker
  le January 1
  
  I love the concept of your design overall! I have some thoughts that may help you out.
  
  1) Perhaps some people are hesitant because your design looks a bit like a hearing aid as of now, and it might help if you look into ways to keep refining the design and truly making Hy look super sleek while making the sound tube going into the ear as clear and thin as possible. Perhaps adding branding/logo on the casing, offering some designs, and/or indicator lights (similar to The Dash) would minimize the hearing aid feeling and make Hy feel more stylish for many people. Most people tend to view headphones and earbuds as a style accessory, and although I'm not quite as concerned with this aspect for Hy, it seems the general public cares about this. So I encourage you to experiment more with Hy's style in terms of the casing's shape/profile, casing materials, integrating cool indicator lights, adding branding and/or design options, etc.
  
  2) I read that you're looking into including a split charging cable, but I don't think that offers the best user experience for people on the go. I realize that Hy offers more battery power than any other wireless hearable, and so you may not feel like a charger case is a necessity -- but I sense that the general consumer will prefer and expect Hy to have a standard charging case with enough power for at least 5 charges. I have owned The Dash for a while, and I've found that its handy to have extra charge at hand anywhere, as well as doesn't require me to charge my device nightly because the case has me covered. Also, a charger case minimizes the risk of losing an earbud because the charging feature motivates people to immediately pop them into the case when done using them rather than shoving them into a pocket or leaving them laying around. Hy could use a similar magnetic charging system, among other possibilities. It seems like every wireless earbud company offers a standard case with battery for charging, so why shouldn't Hy?
  
  3) I don't know if you're open to integrating with other smart hardware/software, but I have tons of ideas that would make Hy even more useful thanks to its sensors and capabilities. If you want to hear some ideas, let's chat some -- send me a private message here on Kickstarter!
  
  Can't wait to see this campaign relaunch! If you'd like to hear some more ways of spreading word of your campaign, let me know when you message me. It'd be amazing if you could give current backers a heads up so we can take advantage of the best deals! ;-) Hy has a very unique design that will allow for many benefits while other wireless IEM and hearable developers are trying to stick with more traditional designs. I'm sure you'll get more backers on the second try -- spreading word is definitely the greatest challenge, and you're gonna make it happen next time. Most campaigns don't reach their goal on the first ty, but the second try is usually when they get it right!
12. Randy Arthur le January 1
  
  Keep us informed of the relaunch. Really excited about these and want to get back in!!
13. Megan Sims
  Superbacker
  le January 1
  
  Looking forward to the relaunch!!
14. Third Skin Créateur le January 1
  
  Hi Malin - details on Plan B coming in the next half hour!
15. malin dufmats le January 1
  
  Please get funded! I really, really want theese...
16. Karl the Fish le December 30
  
  Hey guys, I live in a cold country where headgear is a necessity. How do these headphones feel with a running headband over them? Or a balaclava? Will it impaled me or just be as mildly uncomfortable as most in-ear headphones? Best wishes in the final hour of funding, and happy new year!
17. Midhun Sreekumar Menon
  Superbacker
  le December 30
  
  Awesome. Count me in your supper early birds.
18. Third Skin Créateur le December 30
  
  Hey Midhun - this Kickstarter is only our Plan A! With a product this cool, don't you think we've got backup plans? ;-)
  
  Watch this space - big update coming today.
19. Midhun Sreekumar Menon
  Superbacker
  le December 30
  
  I really wanted this project to get funded. In loosing hope hour by hour.
20. Kelvin Chong
  Superbacker
  le December 27
  
  My bad, ignore my comment
21. Kelvin Chong
  Superbacker
  le December 27
  
  Erm..what is third skin pioneer pledge? Do u get any earphones with this pledge?
22. Third Skin Créateur le December 27
  
  Thank you Gustaf! We've just put up a new pledge level, open to everyone, offering TWO PAIRS OF HY AT 40% OFF. Great idea, and I hope that encourages our backers to push us over the line!
23. Gustaf Bjorklund
  Superbacker
  le December 26
  
  Best wishes to you all in the Hy team! Have you considered any offerings to existing backers in order to raise additional funds? It would probably do magic to raise that little extra needed to reach the goal.
24. Third Skin Créateur le December 25
  
  Alex, we can't thank you enough for spreading the word! We've had a realtime voice comms system in mind as it's an obvious application for Hy, but we wanted to get the hardware in place first. Do you tend to have cell signal where you work?
25. Alex wakeland le December 22
  
  Been trying to talk my coworkers into backing, most of them are not technologically savvy and are unwilling to back/trust a product they can't touch and feel. Hopefully you get funded and I can be your ambassador in the construction field ;) I think they will develop a huge following on the workplace, maybe build into the App a connection or workplace share where multiple devices could share and talk to each other over a short range or conference call set up. I'm often separated from my ground help by 100-300 ft , forcing me to carry a radio in addition to all my other gear, always looking for ways to lighten the load carried.
26. Third Skin Créateur le December 22
  
  Hi Randy - the earpieces are charged separately, but we'll be providing a small adapter which will allow you to charge both units at the same time with one cable. You'll be able to get the charge level from the smartphone app (including a "Hy is fully charged" notification), and also by asking Hy itself ("Ok Hy, what's your battery level?")
  
  It will technically be possible to use the "master" unit (the right hand side) on its own, but the left "slave" unit requires the master to function.
27. Randy Arthur le December 21
  
  I am assuming that both of the earpieces have to be charged separately, will there be an indicator to let you know when the are fully charged. And also will the earpieces be able to be used separately?
28. Roger Chen le December 21
  
  Thanks for the response!
29. Third Skin Créateur le December 20
  
  Hi Roger - we've done everything we can to minimise these risks, and we will continue to test Hy's safety.
  
  The earpieces are significantly shorter than 90% of adult human ear canals. Combined with the L-shape of the earpiece where the wire connects, this means that it is very difficult to push the earpiece into a position where it can cause damage. We have also carefully selected the materials to minimise the risk of injury to the ear canal tissue.
  
  Hope this answers your question.
30. Roger Chen le December 18
  
  Since this goes directly in the ear canal, I was wondering if you got hit or bumped by someone accidentally in the ear (because of say a sudden stop on a subway), would there be any potential dangers in damaging your ear inside/out?
31. Alex wakeland le December 16
  
  Perfect I'll update my pledge. I figured I'd still need earplugs, something are still beyond us, for now ;) thanks again! And I'll be testing your product thoroughly:)
32. Third Skin Créateur le December 16
  
  @Alex - in hindsight, we should have made this clearer! Every pledge gets an invite to our 'pioneer' program, and the promise of free sensory upgrades for life.
  
  As regards the rest of your question - that is seriously specific! We can't (yet) make any guarantees on the water and dust resistance, and while the noise cancellation is great for everyday wear, we're not sure it'll drown out a helicopter at close range. However, it's totally possible that you could wear earbuds with Hy. We'll have to test it though, because it might risk pushing Hy too deep into the ear canal.
  
  On the subject of testing, you've just had everyone on the team hanging upside down on furniture and violently shaking their heads around to try and get Hy to fall off. Short story - they remain in place admirably! We do have a design for a lanyard though, so we've got you covered.
33. Alex wakeland le December 16
  
  Can we do more then one reward? I wanted the first reward level and a hy...or is the free upgrade included in the other rewards? Also I'd like to "rugged" test them as I'm a power lineman. I'd like to see how they will work in loud dusty and wet environments. I climb towers (200-400ft), fly long line on helicopters and work around high voltage. Is there any protection plan I could get? Also can you have these on and use a pair of earplugs? Just trying to figure out how often they would need removed. Plus is there a neck lanyard or something to ensure thy wouldn't fall out, even if your upside down?( I know they are still being developed so figured I'd ask) Thanks for your time.sorry it's so long
34. Third Skin Créateur le December 15
  
  @David Ford - we thought long and hard about this. We decided to go with micro USB because whilst USB C is the new standard (and it's awesome) not everyone's going to have type-C cables hanging around everywhere. We always wanted Hy to be rechargeable everywhere, and it's going to be a while (even considering our shipping date) before there are more C's in the wild than B's. Finally, we haven't yet found a small enough IP6X-rated Type C to mount in the space we have available, and we want Hy to have the best waterproofing we can manage.
  
  As regards glasses, a couple of the team members are specs-wearers, and Hy fits fine.
35. David Ford le December 14
  
  I know you're aiming for a usb-b charging port aka micro USB but are there plans for a USB-C variant? Going forward a lot more devices are switching to USB-C and its going to get a little harder juggling between the two.
  
  Also, will this fit comfortably with glasses?
36. Third Skin Créateur le December 12
  
  @Randy - thanks!
37. Randy Arthur le December 12
  
  I am so glad that this going well. I can't wait for new developments and to see how well these work.
38. Third Skin Créateur le December 5
  
  @Midhun - when we started designing, we felt that needing a charging case was one of the things that makes a lot of other wireless earbuds less convenient than they could be. We didn't want to design a separate piece of hardware with custom connectors etc., so we put the effort into a bigger battery and all day wear. If you do need to recharge on the go, Hy uses standard USB Micro-B sockets (same as most Android phones), which you can find pretty much anywhere!
  
  @Mac - it's absolutely a possibility, but we have other interesting plans that might make it unnecessary (cryptic, but stay tuned...)
  
  @Hyo-Yeon - yes, we're keeping it simple and including shipping in the cost of your pledge.
39. Hyo-Yeon le December 5
  
  Are shipping costs included?
40. Mac
  Superbacker
  le December 4
  
  Any possibility of a future version having a micro sd built in so you can store music or podcasts on them, not just stream?
41. Midhun Sreekumar Menon
  Superbacker
  le December 3
  
  Hi. Any plans for a charging case or onboard storage etc. I see this a potential replacement to another superhit crowd funded product Bragi which I missed the campaign. And a much more discrete one too
42. XDrz le December 2, 2016
  
  I was simply not familiar with bone conduction ear phones. Really appreciate the honesty.
43. Third Skin Créateur le December 2, 2016
  
  @Adam, either way, you're right, it's fun to play with!
44. Third Skin Créateur le December 2, 2016
  
  @Adam,
  
  Sadly, 100% effective ANC is practically impossible, so we still end up with the remaining external audio interacting with the reproduced audio. And you can get away with ~10ms before audio seems out of sync with what you're seeing, but the brain is *extremely* good at phase discrimination, with means that you get weird effects if you're mixing an external signal with its processed self with even the tiniest latency.
45. Third Skin Créateur le December 2, 2016
  
  Hi Darius, thanks for your question. We're using noise cancellation tech from AMS who have a demo of their technology at http://ams.com/eng/Products/Audio/Active-Noise-Cancellation/ANC-Demo, which should give you an idea of what's possible.
  
  It'll cut out a lot of the noise around you, especially in the low frequencies, but transient or high-pitched sounds are more difficult to control. Basically, if you're on the Jubilee extension, you will be able to enjoy some well earned peace and quiet. Screeching and clanking into South Ken on the District line may be as loud as before. Sorry, we're not wizards (though AMS might be).
46. Adam Mustafa le December 2, 2016
  
  @Third Skin
  
  Thanks for the quick response! I figured there would be some time. There is actually more than I expected, but you're right, not much time.
  
  Just thinking out loud, but it wonder if you could send a completely destructive way that functionally cancels the "real" sound. That could work on a very simple pipeline, maybe even have a separate dedicated circuitry to speed it up. Once the original is cancelled, there is a lot more time to work to do ... stuff. So being able to replace the original sound completely would mean more processing time without any real world consequences.
  
  Actually, not that I think about it, you might not even need to cancel the original at all. If I recall correctly, I think the psychoacoustic resolution is about at least an order of magnitude higher than your rough calculation. Your calculation assumes the sound has to hit the same point at the same time. But the HY sound wave just has to get there in less time than the brain can differentiate it.
  
  Either way, super excited to play around with it.
  
  Either way, the experimenting is going to be fun.
47. Darius Aliabadi le December 2, 2016
  
  Hey,
  
  My main usecase for headphones it the tube, are these going to be able to cut outside noise enough for me to enjoy my music on my commute? Does the bone conductive tech help to deal with that or am I going to get a jumble of sounds?
  
  Thanks,
  Darius
48. Third Skin Créateur le December 1, 2016
  
  Hi Adam,
  
  Way ahead of you ;)
  
  There is a MEMS mic on each earpiece (check the left earpiece on the image at the top of the page - you can just see one of the mic ports where the wire enters the earpiece). There will be a *lot* of options to explore.
  
  And as for relative speeds of sound (metric makes this easier) - air is 331m/s, bone is 4080m/s (and we've got cartilage in there which messes with things, but lets keep it simple).
  
  Assuming the ear canal is 25mm, that means it takes 70 microseconds for sound at the entrance of the ear canal (where the mic is) to travel - in air - to the ear drum. In bone, it only takes 6 microseconds, so we have an 64 microseconds to do... stuff. Even in hardware DSP, that's not long, but we're working to keep the latency as low as possible so that we can give developers the best features to work with.
49. Adam Mustafa le December 1, 2016
  
  I can't tell where the microphone is on the pieces, but if you haven't already you should consider adding multiple microphones, at least one for each earpiece. This opens up some interesting use cases for developers. The most interesting ones are real-time sound components and stereo-hearing apps.
  
  Do you know the relative processing speed of sound through the air as opposed to sound through bone? I ask because if the bone is slightly faster, then it allows for processing time to control sound. If you could flash some onboard software, there might be a chance to do some interesting real-time applications. Probably, not a v1 feature I suppose. Either way, I'm really glad you guys are releasing and SDK.
  
  Thanks for your hard work!
50. Third Skin Créateur le November 30, 2016
  
  Hi Daniel C-B,
  
  We like Vue a lot - they look great, and it's a great upgrade of traditional glasses to give people the connectivity they need. Hy has the same goals, but we've tried to design a less obtrusive way of achieving them.
  
  ------
  
  XDrz,
  
  Ah, the old "criticise your own product" question! So here it is - Hy is never going to have the audiophile sound quality of top-end earbuds, because to get perfect sound you need to close the ear canal, though we think Hy's wishbone driver a very good job of getting round this.
  
  BUT - we haven't designed Hy to allow you to appreciate the finest details of a philharmonic, or to master an album - you've got to use the right tools for the job. Hey, if we're exclusively listening to music, we'd rather use full size headphones, because that the only way to get the best music piped into your head!
  
  -----
  
  Hi Daniel S,
  
  We'll put a video up of what Hy sounds like nearby. It's hard for us to demonstrate the sound quality with a bone-conduction driver, as you can't just hold a microphone near it! We've got a couple of ideas though, and we owe it to everyone backing, or considering backing, to get a feel for how good the drivers are.