Blog

Perfect to pair with the sound band ™, museums and mobile phone developers have teamed up to offer an easy, customized experience when touring a museum, such as The Guggenheim, or the American Museum of Natural History.

The Guggenheim recently utilized this technology for the Maurizio Cattelan retrospective. 

And the American Museum of Natural History unveiled an app for the Beyond Planet Earth that displays solar systems and spacecrafts on the user’s phone while they tour.

This is precisely the type of occasion you will find the sound band ™ useful—freely meandering through the Great Hall of African Mammals, approaching the next exhibit, a user can easily hear surrounding sounds, like the children admiring the beautiful elephants in the center, while still hearing the audio tour.

LG and Google are teaming up to debut Google TV at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Hybra Advanced Technology will be there again, after winning a design innovation award last year. This particular collaboration sounds exciting. The TV service provides (as of current reports) a simple, easy-to-use interface, YouTube video sharing and the opportunity for Android developers to build applications for the TV, as that is Google TV’s software platform.

Here is a link to explore this project more, courtesy of Google: http://www.google.com/tv/

A weeding Agribot.

In the cornfields of Illinois, researchers and engineers are finding innovative, creative ways of relieving  repetitive manual labor for farmers.

Students and professors at the University of Illinois, in Urbana Champaign, are working on robots that weed corn rows using sensors to stay in the rows and cameras to identify weeds. The robot can mechanically cut the weeds when found and spray herbicide. On tractors, long-range cameras have been installed to provide ‘eyes’ so that tractors can now be fully operated by remote control.

Work like this is inspiring to us!

Check out the video of this research here: Agribots

Last week, Meagan Thomas Wells attended the BRIM Conference, in Traverse City, MI, sponsored by One Up Web. BRIM, ‘Bringing Relentless Innovation to Michigan’ focused on topic such as: business strategy, advertising and marketing, and investing.

Meagan reported that the conference was lively and useful, “…it was motivating for local business people– they were able to imagine strategy beyond the local or state level, which is what Hybra is all about. It reiterated the sense that we live in a place with such spectacular business individuals, who create products and services relevant to the world today.”

As Hybra Advance Technology continues to make international moves with our products and services, we also take pride in our commitment to the local, Traverse City Area community. Thanks, One Up Web, for sponsoring this event!

Scratch, a coding language developed by M.I.T.’s Media Lab, allows children to produce web projects by using coding. Michael Resnick, a Professor of Learning Research at the Media Lab reports that the language is simple and, more importantly, encourages collaboration.

Hybra’s small team of intense, creative-minded collaborators, were thrilled to learn about this project. As innovators, Hybra is influenced by putting stock in new ideas, and developing those projects. Children create over 2,000 new projects everday using Scratch, as well as 6,000 collaborated works.

As innovation changes education, providing tomorrow’s inventors with new tools, we at Hybra are looking forward to our bright future.

To check out children’s work, and the Scratch project, visit:  http://scratch.mit.edu/

Telesar V, the Robotic Avatar recently unveiled in Japan at a trade show, provides a user with a remote, sensory experience. Wearing the robotic suit, a person can see, hear and observe tactile sensation through Telesar V.

The unveiling of this extraordinary machine excited Hybra’s team, as our philosophy is to provide people with technology that enhances the quality of their lives, like our sound band ™ . Our kudos to Susumu Tachi, leader of the development team out of Keio University in Tokyo.

Recently, a New York Times article by Gretchen Reynolds traced the results of a study conducted by the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA, that suggests regular exercise plays a large role in aging gracefully; muscle mass can be retained longer in more active individuals.

While exercise is commonly associated with a healthy life, this particular study presents the perspective that muscle mass is protected in people who maintain their commitment to physical health.

We at Hybra Advance Technology are thrilled to continue our exercise routines, motivated by our changing playlists and the ease of using the sound band ™ during our runs, spinning classes, yoga practice and hip hop dance sets.

Enjoy your exercise, from us here at Hybra!

To check out Reynolds’ article, visit:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/aging-well-through-exercise/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Running with sound band is an entirely new experience.

If you exercise regularly, you would probably agree that the experience tends to improve when some form of motivation is involved. No, not a drill sergeant running beside you. More along the lines of inspirational music, a book on tape, or other form of audio accompaniment.

This can be especially true for distance runners. Your exercise becomes part of the rhythm – or part of the journey. Before you know it you’ve gone three miles. Or five miles. Or more.

Outside of the gym, however, many runners choose not to use headphones or earbuds for safety reasons. With almost any outdoor fitness activity, the ability to hear vehicles, bicyclists or other people approaching becomes very important.

Safety reasons aside, many runners simply prefer to hear the natural sounds around them as they run. Runners may also have conversations while running with a partner or group, which can’t be done while listening to headphones that fit in or over the ear.

Earbuds and over-the-ear headphones are designed to eliminate sound from outside the ear canal so the audio signal can be clearly heard, giving runners a choice: the audio from their portable device or the ambient sound in their environment.

What if you could have it all? Music, talk radio, phone calls or other personal audio in premium quality with the ability to clearly hear all of the ambient sounds around you, including conversations?

With sound band™, now you can.

sound band’s award-winning design and revolutionary surface excitation technology change the way sound waves are delivered to the ear. Instead of using a speaker inserted into or placed over the ear canal as earbuds and traditional headphones do, sound band fits comfortably behind the ear, using its ground-breaking design to deliver sound waves directly to the inner ear. The user hears the audio signal from their device in amazing clarity while retaining the ability to hear the ambient sounds in their immediate environment.

For avid runners, sound band opens a new world of sound to outdoor running and fitness. Hear the leaves rustling in the trees as you run down a wooded trail with music playing. Accept a quick phone call with the touch of a button, then return to music with one more touch. Perhaps most importantly, remain alert of vehicles or other runners coming up behind you.

Run safely. Run with sound band.

sound band users will now have access to over 45,000 radio stations via Livio Radio.

Hybra Advance Technology’s revolutionary sound band™ wireless headset promises to change how we use personal audio in many ways. Now, it also opens up a world of listening options to music lovers. Literally.

With the recent announcement that sound band has been licensed to access music through Livio Radio, users will have their choice of more than 45,000 online radio stations.

Livio’s catalog of Internet radio stations are available through its connection with the largest Internet radio database on the planet. Coupled with an on-demand selection that will soon reach over 100,000 streams, virtually every musical genre imaginable will be accessible to sound band users. From adult contemporary to bluegrass, from electronica to jazz, and from hip-hop to heavy metal and beyond, a virtually unlimited selection of musical choices will be available for streaming directly into your sound band.

Livio Radio’s online radio catalog really sings when combined with the superior sound quality and ground breaking technology of sound band. Winner of a Design & Engineering Showcase award at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, sound band’s innovative design allows the headset to be placed behind the ear, rather than inside or covering the ear as earbuds or traditional headphones are used. Because the ear canal is left unobstructed, the sound band user is able to hear the ambient sound in his or her immediate surroundings.

Picture yourself on a morning walk, listening to the birds chirp as the Beatles play. Imagine listening to Mozart as you carry on a conversation, even in a quiet space like a library. Listening to music while running or cycling is now much safer, as sounds in the surrounding environment – like oncoming traffic or other people, can be heard clearly while listening with sound band.

Taking your music with you has never been easier. In other words, it’s music to your ears.

sound band's award-winning design utilizes advances in both function and form.

Headphones have been used for entertainment and communication for nearly a hundred years. As the demand for personal audio has expanded from the home or studio to mobile electronics and communication devices, the design of headphones has also evolved. First, over-the-ear headphones became lighter and smaller. Next, in-the-ear devices became a popular method for staying connected to music and other forms of communication.

Despite significant changes to the form and function of music players and other mobile devices, one design aspect was not evolving: traditional headphones, which cover the ear, and earbuds, which are placed inside the ear canal, separate the user from their environment by drowning out the sounds around them.

Now, a new revolution is poised to once again re-define how personal audio is delivered. Hybra Advance Technology’s sound band™, a wireless headset that fits behind the ear rather than in or over the ear, offers an entirely new listening and communication experience. sound band allows users to conduct phone calls, listen to music, or any other use associated with traditional headphones, without eliminating the sounds of the world around them. From a passing car to a child’s voice, users are no longer forced to choose between their electronic world and their real world.

“We see sound band as a paradigm shift in personal audio,” said Hybra Advance Technology co-founder, Ryan Wells. “Until now, personal audio users have been confined by designs using speakers in or over the ear. We wanted a design that made the user experience as pleasant as possible without sacrificing sound quality.”

Wells and his team at Hybra Advance Technology sought to enhance the listening experience by developing a headset that allows users to seamlessly move between their electronic world and their day-to-day conversations and activities. As the design for sound band was developed and refined, the focus was to create a headset that is as non-invasive as possible.

The earpieces for sound band were designed to fit behind the ear, a functionality that early testing found to be familiar and comfortable. “Most people begin wearing glasses – either corrective eyewear or sunglasses – at a relatively early age,” said Wells. “The sensation of having something resting lightly on the ear is typically a familiar one.”

The positioning of sound band’s earpieces also contributes directly to the device’s superior sound clarity. High-quality sound is delivered directly to the inner ear via sound band’s ground-breaking surface excitation technology. Because the ear canal is unobstructed, the user can hear the ambient sound around them while listening to music or enjoying other audio communication, providing an experience unlike any other.

The controls for sound band have also been designed to be minimally invasive. The dongle, which houses the headset’s electronics, volume buttons and other controls, rests at the base of the user’s neck, away from the user’s ears. This ergonomic design makes sound band’s controls accessible and easy to use while avoiding the uncomfortable “suction-cupping” of the ears that is common in many of today’s in-the-ear headsets with controls at or very near the ear canal.

Even a phone call is an entirely different experience with sound band. Because sound band wirelessly connects to mobile devices, and uses directional microphones to capture the user’s voice, a phone call is truly hands free.

“We feel that sound band will lead a re-birth of the personal audio experience,” continued Wells. “Some headsets were ill-received by consumers because of their awkward early design. With sound band, we created a non-invasive stereo headset that delivers sound of the utmost quality, incorporated the ability to make phone calls, and allows the user to remain connected to the world around them. It’s the best of both worlds – all worlds, really.”

Judges at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas agreed in 2010, recognizing sound band with a Design & Engineering Showcase Award for Wireless Headsets.

Want to learn more about sound band? Sign up here to receive news and updates from Hybra Advance Technology. You can also inquire here for more information about becoming a sound band distribution partner.