Nura Headphones: Personalised Sound!

Back in July 2016, I backed Nura Headphones on Kickstarter. I finally got my headphones and I love it! I have never been much of an audiophile and strangely, that's why I was attracted to these headphones. I mean, the best pair of headphones I had before Nura were SoundMAGIC E30 in-ear headphone. They were great but I always wondered if I was getting the best sound possible out of them because I suck at equalization. I usually just go with presets but I also don't bother changing the presets. Finally, I was concerned about hearing degradation as I aged. Nura seemed to be a great answer to all my concerns.

Nura uses a frequency based test to map my ear and then provides me with a personalised hearing profile that is designed to help me hear as much of the music as possible. So I don't have to worry about equalization and in theory, if I run the test annually, I can keep hearing well even as my ears change with age. So for me, it was a good buy at the Kickstarter price. Especially since I didn't already have expansive high-end Headphones. The SoundMAGIC E30, while highly rated, ultimately a pair of budget headphones that come in under $50.

However, the professional reviews for Nura have been more mixed. A lot of people prefer the build in equalization of other high-end headphones to Nura's personal profile. Some people also prefered other people's profiles to their own. I can understand to an extent. I tried listening using my mom's hearing profile and the music was louder. I know that when I couldn't decide what sounded best, I just went with whichever equalization setting sounded louder. My brother also got a pair of Nura and I would be keen to see how music sounds with his and my sister-in-law's sound profile.

As for the sound profiles, I ran the test on my phone ears three times and while the colouring changed, the overall shape of my hearing graph was consistent. It was also different from those of my mom, brother and sister-in-law. Other Nura owners have posted their profiles on Twitter. The variety of profiles is quite something.

Overall, I love the headphones and they were the right buy for me. For others, the price might not be worth it. Alternatively, they might already have high-end headphones that they already like. But I am glad I backed Nura Headphones!

Scanning my foot!

I don't talk a lot about projects I back on Kickstarter here. That's probably a mistake, and I should review some of the technology projects I back. Of course, my Kickstarter backer profile is much more diverse than just technology. For example, I backed Antonia Saint heels, which fall under design. However, there was a strong technological element to the project, because the shoes are supposed to be tailored to your feet, with an app being used to scan and measure your feet.

Essentially, it is a high-tech return to the days when cobblers fitted your shoe to the exact dimensions of your feet. Until I get the shoes, I won't know for sure, how good the app is but I have to admit, it was somewhat difficult to use the app. Especially the socked photo section of the app because I couldn't work out how to take the photo per the instruction. Also, they asked a few questions about my heels and ankles that I found a bit confusing to answer. But it did force me to look at my feet very closely. I never realised that my heels wore down the way they do because of the shape of my foot. I always thought I walked weird.

Overall, I am looking forward to the shoes. I just wish I could have gotten them in red instead of "nude". But you can't have everything.

Getting into the Internet of Things

I am a big fan of Kickstarter and crowdfunding in general. Indeed, I am interested in exploring the idea of crowdfunding as a source of research funding. Especially given the rise of research crowdfunding platforms such as Experiment. Although at the moment, Kickstarter is the only crowdsourcing platform I regularly use.

I have backed a diverse range of projects through the site. Even flirted with the idea of launching my own project. The majority of the projects I backed in the technology field have been related to the Pebble Smartwatch, which is something I am obviously interested in given AWEAR.

However, lately, I have become interested in the Internet of Things (IoT). Living in Australia, I know that the IoT future still has a while to go. Internet infrastructure is just not there for many people. Including myself, and I live in a major Australian city, in a well-established suburb. Yet even my internet connectivity can be patchy. There is also the fact that sometimes, IoT solutions seems to be seeking problems to solve.

A good example of this is Knocki. Which at the time of writing is just four days away from being successfully funded on Kickstarter. Knocki is undoubtedly a cool idea. However, the actual practical utility of it I am not entirely sold on. I can see it being of great use to my grandparents, who face great mobility challenges. But they also live in Bangladesh and are at that stage where introducing anything new in their routine is a problem.

My mum is also getting on in years. But she's not yet too old for new tech. So Knocki could be for her. Except that every suggested example of what Knocki can do can also be achieved with a smartwatch. Indeed, the smartwatch has the advantage of being on your wrist already and you don't have to remember how many taps to dim the light. The "remembering" part may not seem like a big deal to someone young and carefree. But older adults or even overworked adults would rather stick to an old-fashioned remote for the simple reason that they can always look down and read what the buttons do. You just hit the dim the light button. But again, I get why Knocki appeals to some people. It is, as I said, undoubtedly cool. If I had more smart gadgets around my house, I too might be keen to get a Knocki.

As it is, I decided to jump into the IoT Kickstarter scene in a more DIY basis by backing MbientLab Inc's Metawear. I got two since they can also work as custom wearables. I am thinking of building something like a baby monitor. I babysit my niece from time to time, and she's becoming more mobile by the day! So, even as my mother and grandparents might benefit from items that do not require them to move much. My niece needs things that help us track her as she begins to explore the world around her. I can also look into using Metawear to device something elder-friendly for my grandparents. But for now, I will focus on my niece and perhaps come up with something cool for myself.

So that's my action plan for July. Build something cool with Metawear. Also, to keep my research credentials up, I will be working on a "State of the art" paper on IoT. I am looking forward to it.