earphones are never one-size-fits-all kind of thing and hence, we have different sizes of silicone to try to make it fit. if you are lucky, you might just get the right fit that won’t fall out during your active lifestyle and that’s ‘if’. this is where OwnPhones wants to fill the void by producing 3D Printed earbuds that are perfectly shaped to your individual ear. but wait. isn’t custom earbuds in existence already? yes and no. current offerings are pretty high-end stuff, but OwnPhones stands out as one that goes beyond shaping the buds to your ear canals, but it is also customizable to your audio needs, style and activity, and on top of all that, it is a true wireless earbuds. if materialized, OwnPhones Wireless Smart Earbuds will be the one-of-the-kind in the market.
it will be a feat trying to achieve what the startup has promised and that’s not to mention the challenge of getting your individual ear canal’s shape accurately without even seeing you in person. in order to remotely check out your ear canal’s shape, OwnPhones will need you to record a short video of both ears using a dedicated app. this video is then uploaded to the firm’s servers where an advanced Photogrammetry algorithms will convert it into a 3D model for OwnPhones to work on. once the ‘render’ of your custom earbuds is out, you can then custom it with a selection of styles, colors and materials to suit your individual style preference. it even promised the option of using gold and silver as the material other then plastic.
on the custom audio aspect, the app will also let you customize what you want and don’t want to hear. examples include Environmental Soundscaping that allow you to choose from complete seal to a combination of music and the environmental sound, and Real World Notifications that will let hear alarms, airport announcements et cetera, to be heard over the music. sounds like pretty heavy stuff here which will involve a huge amount of advanced audio technologies and a very bold promised, but whether they will be fulfilled remains to be seen. the OwnPhones Wireless Smart Earbuds is expected to retail between $299 and $449, but before that happens, the folks will be bringing this advanced wireless earbuds to Kickstarter this July where backers will be able to secure one for as much as 50 percent off the eventual retail price.
UPDATE [July 16, 2014; 09:40AM PDT] OwnPhones 3D printed wireless earbuds is now on Kickstarter where you can support this awesome in-ear headphones for as low as $149 a pop. go check it out.
