Update 12/22/2016: For those interested in giving these innovative cans a listen, you’ll be excited to know Hero Stages headphone will be showcasing at CES 2017. Get more details about this headphone and all other CES exhibitors in our CES 2017 Headphones article.
This headphones is called Hero for a very good reason. The over-ear cans are designed to give you control over what you hear and are programmed to recognize words like “Watch out!” Equipped with selective hearing and noise cancellation, meet Hero Stages headphone.
Hero Stages Headphone with Selective Hearing
While much of the audio community is going smaller, Hero Stages headphone is going big. While the frame is probably larger than most would prefer, Hero is making up for it in a huge way. The wireless headphone uses an array of microphones to pick up ambient noise that you specify, whether it be sound from a certain direction or the familiar voice of a friend.
Hero is built with eight microphones dispersed in the shape of a circle. The microphones are responsible for capturing all incoming sound which is then processed by Stages LLC’s proprietary speech and sound algorithms. The audio processing system is designed to enhance the user’s listening experience through selective sound admittance gating and ambient-audio specialization meaning when you hear sound and where you hear it from. Together, this allows for a safer and more convenient means of enjoying your music and keeping tuned into your environment. To put it over in layman’s terms, the company promises Hero will be able to pick up audio from a specified arc of sound that is set to be either fixed or adjusted as you move.
Other settings include omni which allows ambient sound from all directions and dynamic which allows ambient sound when a strong signal is found. I definitely see the advantages with headphone such as this. In addition, Stages says the headphones will be able to pick up keywords and allow that ambient noise in – like someone yelling at you to watch out for that car. It’ll also be able to allow ambient noise of a familiar voice – like your boss or best friend.
The headphones also work in conjunction with a companion app used to set your preferences.
At this time, Stages has not disclosed any of the other specs on the product, like battery life, headphone build materials, frequency response range, impedance, or cost. But hopefully soon since I’ll need to start saving some coins. Stages LLC is expected to make an appearance at CES 2017 in January.
