The Dash Brings Music to Your Ears … In a Smarter Way
Bragi have just introduced something that could make your workout, your commute and probably your whole day much smarter. People listen to music while doing all sorts of things, so you probably have earphones at the ready at any given time. But those earphones could be vastly improved, which is where we come in. They’ve created the world’s first set of smart, wireless earphones — The Dash.
The amount of technology incorporated into these small devices is rather impressive; they’re more like small microcomputers than earbuds, even though they look much less obtrusive than you may expect. It was important to Bragi to create a device that is effective and impressive, but not at all bulky. This makes them easier to use and more aesthetically pleasing.
And the best news of all is that this is just the beginning.
The ultimate earphones
The Dash comes with 4GB of storage, which means you don’t need an extra device for your music. It can hold up to 1,000 songs all on its own. But if you need more tunes in your life, you can seamlessly stream music from your phone through bluetooth and it’ll still sound amazingly clear. There won’t be any spotty signal interrupting your listening.
The earphones also have Optical Touch controls on the outside, so there’s no need to take out any external device in order to access the functions. You can browse through music or check on your workout progress by tapping and swiping the face of the earphone. This ease of access means that you don’t even have to take your eyes off of what you’re doing to skip a song or get an update.
Image: Bragi
So music is not the only reason to get on board with The Dash. Listening may be all you do with your current set of earbuds, but these are meant to be more like a personal assistant than a set of speakers for your ears.
For example, the wireless component and storage capacity make these earphones the optimal exercise accessory. Rejoice at the thought of never again fumbling with wires or getting your phone all sweaty.
With 23 sensors in each ear, The Dash can keep track of your heart rate and analyze other physical metrics while you get fit. It’ll count your steps and give you live feedback while you’re going through your workout.
The waterproof hardware is an added bonus for anyone who choses swimming as their way to keep in shape. Never before have swimmers had the luxury of listening to music while underwater, but The Dash changes the game completely. (This feature is also pretty useful for anyone who wants to run in the rain, or if you get caught in a downpour during your commute.)
You can even choose to hear the noise of the world around you, or block it out completely, with the swipe of your finger. This is great for your focus, whether you’re exercising or if you’re trying to concentrate in a noisy office. But if you want to be more aware of your surroundings, you have the option to keep the background noise audible.
Image: Bragi
What’s down the road for The Dash
Right now, these are an excellent set of earphones with cutting edge features, but they’re set up to be much more than that. Bragi thinks about this first iteration of The Dash like the very first in a series of smart phones.
The Dash’s hardware and design leaves a ton of room for growth as the software improves, so there will be much more capability and functionality for this device in the future.
For example, the team at Bragi is picturing a movement away from a numbers-based process of fitness tracking. In the future, they’d like to introduce a much more qualitative method. They want the fitness software to act more like a personal assistant than a fancy calculator.
Users could be able to input a specific goal, such as running a half marathon, and The Dash would act as a coach. If your pace was too quick, the earphones would tell you to take it down a bit so you can avoid injury, while also assuring that you finish your workout without becoming too exhausted. Inversely, if you weren’t making good time, the device would tell you to speed up so you can be motivated to reach your goal.
Bragi is also working on software that could let you control The Dash by moving different parts of your body. For example, jumping may activate the function that skips a song in your playlist. Incorporating interactive physical commands would make the immersive experience they want for their users even more unique.
These are just a couple possibilities for the groundbreaking earphones. But the Dash is still in its infancy. There is so much potential for growth, especially if more developers can get involved. Bragi is setting a slow pace to make sure they get everything right, but there are fantastic things down the road. The Dash is already an impressive set of microcomputers you can fit in your ears, but just imagine where they’ll be like five years down the line.