Kapture: A Wearable Mic For Life Logging

A Kickstarter project that launched this week wants to put a microphone on your wrist, for constant audio monitoring, in a twist on the wearable technology phase. The Kapture, pairs with an iOS and Android smartphone app that allows for quick sharing of audio clips recorded by the hardware wristband, which is constantly recording audio to a 60 second, recycling buffer. The buffered loop continuously overwrites itself until the user taps the device to save a clip of the previous 60 seconds. Then the saved file is downloaded to your smartphone where the duration can be shortened and then you can name, tag, filter and share it.

The concept is not new, an app called Heard came on the scene in June that records audio in the background, capturing a 12 second buffer by default, or up to five minutes of the very recent past via in-app purchase feature unlocks. The Kapture device differs by offering a hardware accessory, which is worn on the wrist and from which you can flag a clip for saving instantly via a simple tap on the outside of the device.  The hardware uses impact-resistant plastic and a silicone strap, with a battery that is said to last a little over a day. It has a simple multicolour LED display with no screen, a vibrating motor and a waterproof, omni-directional microphone built-in. The accessory prototype is connected via Bluetooth 2.1 to your phone, but that is being upgraded to Bluetooth 4.0 for production and there is a micro USB for charging along with an accelerometer for tracking motion.

Kapture’s founding team includes Mike Sarow, who is an engineer with over a decade of product manufacturing experience at Procter & Gamble and Matthew Dooley, a marketing man who has the know-how for product placement.  The team is seeking $150,000 to get the Kapture off the ground, and is offering backers the chance to get one for a $99 pledge, in either black or white. Different colours start to become available from the $110 mark.

[Image via: uncrate]

SOURCE: http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/06/kapture-aims-to-build-a-wearable-mic-that-can-always-capture-up-to-the-last-60-seconds-of-conversation/