The dangers of hearing loss are always nipping at the ear lobe, yet everyone still regards the use of headphones to be perfectly normal. In addition, since the advent of the iPod and iPhone and their highly-valued place in society, much hullabaloo has been made about the unaware state in which headphones put people in — making them more of a target for thieves and other criminal types preying on people not having a clue.
The Music Wrap wants to envelop the ear in sonic goodness without all the negative effect. The durable, highly transformable form factor allows users to take it wherever they want, however they want, as it features an IPX5 water resistant coating and anti-shock tech. Whether it be placed over the neck on bike ride or strapped to a book bag on a walk, the Music Wrap creates a directional sound field that can either be comfortably audible when near the ear or loud so it can serve as a Bluetooth speaker when farther away.
It can as easily answer a synced smartphone at the press of a button over the course eight-hour battery life, as well. Each Music Wrap is priced at $45 and is to be expected in June 2016. It campaign is looking for $20,000 by March 4th, 2016 to make it happen.
Outside of a smartphone’s innate volume limit function, there aren’t very many products that address the negative effects headphones have on hearing. And for the most part, people don’t care that much. What they care about more is staying aware of their surroundings, something the Music Wraps helps in doing but by essentially being a Bluetooth speaker both the user and the public has the pleasure of hearing. I’m not sure most people are ready to be that person quite yet. The Ear3 mixes outdoor noise with the song being heard to make for a more palatable approach to this problem, but on that doesn’t really help the ear drum all too much.