Your hearing is unique – ever thought about that? Hefio has. A lot. Imagine the best headphones in the world. Now imagine headphones personalised for you. The best just got better, didn’t it.
We all, actually, hear sound differently. After hearing sound, for the first time, that was optimised to my individual ears I envy those who haven’t. Now going back to my old headphones is like grabbing any pair of glasses from the optician and being convinced that they are exactly how they should be, blurry and headache-inducing.
This is what Hefio does. I don’t mean selling bad prescription glasses, but technology that delivers individually optimised audio for those who want to experience sound as it really is. There’s no going back.
The Groundwork
I guess this company started like any other high-tech startup, either in your parents cellar or as a doctoral thesis at university. This time it was the thesis.
In 2012 Marko, the founder, laid the groundwork for Hefio’s self-calibrating headphones in his doctoral thesis. Then, unlike most other PhDs, he decided to build a business around his idea, instead of hoping that someone will find him and pay him gaaaaaazillions.
They have a team with over 70 years of professional experience in audio technology. This is audio technology and professional experience in it… There’s probably like 300 years worth of experience alive right now or who knows.
The Product
Everyone hears sound differently. And the differences are huge. Normal headphones do not take these differences into account. It is like wearing someone else’s glasses. This leads to a problem. For example, some headphones produce either too much or too little bass, resulting in reduced sound quality for all users. This problem is especially significant in virtually reality where the sound needs to be individually optimized to create a truly immersive listening experience.
They design headphone technology that delivers individually optimized audio for those who want to experience sound as it really is. The built-in microphones capture the sound inside the ear canals. Using the audio calibration software the standalone Signal Processor analyzes the sound, makes an accurate estimate of the sound spectra at the eardrums and optimizes the sound for your unique ears.
Their first launched product was Hefio One, which allowed them to validate the concept with awesome feedback. Unfortunately, it needed an app to calibrate the headphones. So now they’re working on Hefio Play, a standalone digital version.
TL;DR
Hefio created magic headphones that make you experience audio that is made specifically for your ears. Sound magic.
What The Future Looks Like
Well, how big is hearing? It’s big, but Hefio’s next step sare to bring their headphones to market and to explore opportunities for cooperation and strategic partnerships. For example, they realized that it would be interesting to look at gaming and VR industries as they believe that these industries could benefit from their innovative audio technology. So, Hefio is open to all kinds of discussions. You can catch their ears by contacting olga.yurbacheva@hefio.com
Find Hefio pitching their product at the Startup Sauna Demo Day at Slush on the 30th of November, starting at 16:30. At Startup Station.
