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Headway is a new device that turns a helmet in to a wearable speaker, allowing biking, snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts to listen to music... Headway – The Sound System For Helmets

Headway is a new device that turns a helmet in to a wearable speaker, allowing biking, snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts to listen to music while they enjoy their favourite sport. Although it has the same effect of a speaker, the sound is actually transmitted by vibrations through the use of surface transduction.

The device is attached to the outside of the helmet via a magnetic mechanism and a secure mounting system. The music is streamed from a smartphone and is controlled through the accompanying app.

Headway Helmet Speaker

Headway’s CEO, Sophie Willborn explains that the device “turns the whole helmet into an acoustic resonating body with outstanding audio quality.” A music and motorbike enthusiast herself, she realised that there was nothing on the market that enabled people to comfortably listen to music whilst wearing a helmet, hence Headway was born.  “I was overwhelmed by the sound inside the helmet,” she says.

After working with the Berlin Startup Academy, Willborn was able to develop protoypes until a final design resulted in a 3D-printed device that could communicate with a smartphone through Bluetooth. Headway has already won first prize at both Idea Camp and the Betahaus Festival. Willborn explains the sound quality that users can expect to experience saying:

“It’s like being in a soundbox. The whole helmet is the acoustic resonance body so you can hear the music from everywhere around you. The best thing is, you can feel the bass. The whole helmet vibrates when you hear music with strong bass.”

The next step for Headway is to secure funding through crowd sourcing this April and if all goes to according to plan, then you can expect to see the wearable speaker later this year with a price tag of around $270.

[Image via Headway]

SOURCE: http://www.rockatoo.de/