Introducing Hooke Verse Wireless Headphones; Capture Binaural 3D Audio on your iOS device

By AnthonyM, 26 May, 2015

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

Hi All!

I was referred to this amazing site by one of your members Justin (drummer0608)

I myself am not blind, but I have invented a product that blind iOS users like Justin are getting really excited about. He urged that I share here.

My name is Anthony Mattana. For the last 5 years I've worked as a professional sound designer and composer in NYC. Now I am the founder and creator of Hooke Audio and have always been fascinated by binaural audio. For those that don't know, binaural audio is recorded audio captured identically to the way the human ear experiences sound. The result is a two channel recording that makes any listener with a pair of headphones feel like they are there. How cool is that?!

There haven't been any products out there that let a user record binaural audio to their iphones, so I decided to invent one! I combined binaural recording technology into a pair of wireless headphones. It's called the Hooke Verse. Hooke Audio is my company. Hooke is both a playback and capturing device, capable of playing music AND recording 3D Audio. Check out my site here: www.hookeaudio.com and our youtube channel here to hear our 3d recordings captured with Hooke: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBRvQgL46ga9WmgFyTFxNCg

I hope to bring binaural recording to all by making storytelling as easy as unlocking your iOS device!

Would love to hear what you guys think of my product and would be happy to answer any questions you might have! Right now we are manufacturing the headphones. You can pre order via our website. They are set to ship late this summer.

Thank you!
Anthony

Options

Comments

By Chris Harrington on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hi!
From what I read, you can plug the headphones in to a headphone jack, correct?
I'm sorry if I am mistaken.
Chris

By AnthonyM on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

In reply to by Chris Harrington

@Chris, ah you're not mistaken. This is outdated. We are now working on a little bluetooth receiver that you could pair Hooke to. Once paired, that receiver pumps audio into a non bluetooth device via 1/8" cable.

<p>Gotcha!!! Glad I understand now!!! Chris</p>

By Scottsdale on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hey Anthony,

Neat idea, and the demos sound pretty sweet!

Seeing as you're taking notes, add me to the list of people who'd be interested in a hard wired option for output if you ever expand the options available. I understand why hard wired recordings can't be made at this point, but if these really do sound comparable to the Shure model you cited, I'd probably use them as standard headphones too, and it doesn't make sense to munch through battery life streaming via bluetooth in that scenario.

One quick question: have you turned VoiceOver (Apple's in-built screen reader) on and had a poke around your app to see how much work there is to be done on that end of things? If so, what's the current usability like? I'll hold off on preordering until that's confirmed, but definitely another interested customer here.

Good stuff, cheers. Once you've gotten to that point, please keep me in mind if you're planning to have anyone take it for a spin and provide feedback via Testflight or similar. I'll set a few quid aside just in case there's good news about app accessibility around the corner :D

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

Same here. I'd be more then happy to beta test as well. I know how to use test flight as I've used it for years.

Take care and be blessed.

By bee on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hi everyone!
I also interesting to buy the product as well.
Hope it's will work wel with screen reader.
I also did pass the information of the site to the people in thailand as well.
We would like to do pre order for the product as well, but we not sure that the device will be work with the screen reader that we are useing or not only.
So that's why we have to do some waiting for the beta
testing result first.
By the way I can say it was good product I think you will success for sure.
Cheers!

By bee on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hi AnthonyM and everyone!
I can say I’m quite happy with your quick response to all the question that people that have been asking.
It was show the good responsibilities to the community.
I hope your product will be popular among visually impair in all over the world for sure.
By the way I also going to be your customer for sure.
So good luck for that.

By AnthonyM on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

@bee, can't tell ya how much that means to me. I'm not a businessman, I'm an artist and a storyteller who truly believes this can help mankind. Means a lot your community supporting me. I am going to do my best to make a product you guys love!

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

We like to hear that. I can't wait to test this out when it comes time for it to ship, once I pre-order that is. lol!

Thanks so much for your receptiveness and responsiveness in regard to accessibility for all.

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hello there, just some other questions.

1. Is the app background-able? The reason I ask this is some are not, and you don't know this, so you record, hit the home button speak your piece and come back to find out it had paused.

2. if you get a phone call can it resume where it left off after you hang up? or will you have to do that yourself? I don't want to start a new recording every time I receive a phone call. This would make for some interesting merging later.

3. Can I use the binaural mics with other apps such as audio boom, skype, etc?

I think that's it for now.

Take care and be blessed.

By bee on Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hi!
I also curious the same.
Hope AnthonyM will give us the answer soon.
Cause look like he was response to so many question quite fast though.
That's why make so many people impress with his work a lot.
By the way will wait for his answer as well.

@KE7ZUM

1. Great question. I'm happy to say I've already thought of that :-) Pressing the sleep or home button when recording will NOT pause the recording.

2. At the moment, we do not have the recording starting up again after a phone call is finished. I honestly didn't think many people would be interested in this feature. But good to know! Let me look into it.

3. At the moment, iOS and Android devices are not natively set up to receive two channels of high quality audio. There's never been a product that made the market demand this feature. That's about to change tho :-)

Best,
Anthony

I feel that its very important to be able to notice the difference in audio naturally.
This is exactly what is going to happen when hooke verse hits the masses.
Its a product that is already naturally a part of someones everyday life in which they can share priceless moments of time that could never be had again with 3D audio.

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

One more suggestion, maybe. Lol. If you happen to use the software with out the headphones, can voice over come out of the speaker? Many apps stop voice over or have it come out of the head set. I din't care much for that. as I need to hear what I'm doing it is kin do flike if someone takes a video and the screen goes off, or something along those lines..

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

I just preordered my set. Tax was a bit high and shipping, but I think the cost will be well worth it. I so can't wait to test both hardware and software. This is going to be awsome!

By AnthonyM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

@KE7ZUM great suggestion and thank you for your purchase! Working hard to get these finished, can't wait for you to get it :-)

Anthony

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

Take your time. I know that sounds odd, but I am a stickler. It's quality in the product, not how many get released in x amount of time. I have had exerience with that in my own small business I operate.

Good luck and I'm sure the product will be wonderful.

By riyu12345 (not verified) on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hi anthony.

I'm sure this is a super duper amazing product but I do have some things to give as suggestions.

ON your site, there are no imiges labeled. So what we as screen reader users would hear when looking at the part of your site that is to do with pictures might be something like, Image 100022 Or, just logo. Don't worrie this is very easy to fix.

Here is the HTML code to make screen readers read a description of a picture instead of graphic 100022 or something like that.

<img src="Name of file.jpg" alt="Description of file, for example. A man typing at a keyboard">

I'd also recommend you download NVDA if you're using windows, if your not, I'd highly recommend taking a look at your website either on a mac, or on an Iphone.

To turn voiceover on, either hold down the home button until you hear the sound for Siri,then say "turn voiceover on" Or go to, settings/general/accessibility/voiceover and you can turn it on that way.

You can turn it off by saying to siri, "turn voiceover off" Or going to settings/general/accessibility/voiceover and turning it off from there.

Here are a couple commands you can use with voiceover; Flick left with one finger, will move you left through a page or app. Flick right with one finger will move you right through a page or app. Double tapping, (tapping twice anywhere on the screen when the item you want is focused on the voiceover kircer) will click on that item.

One more thing, does your headphones contain speech? What I mean is, when you turn bluetooth headphones on, well the ones I've bought anyway, you might hear something like, pared with, bradley, or battery 40 percent.

I really hope these headphones have that feature since we as blind people can't see when the battery is running low.

I hope this helps and I'm sorry for any bad spellings.

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

@brad I don't think the battery low idea is a good idea as it probably will bleed through in to the recording and we don't want that, at least I as a sound engineer don't. If there could be a way to show it on the phone somehow that would be good. Just a suggestion, but I would not know if that's even possible.

By sockhopsinger on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

I am amazed that binaural audio has not caught on more than it has. I first heard this used on a CD dramatization of Stephen King's The Mist. I was blown away by the difference even compared to regular 3D audio. I'm looking forward to seeing the response once these headphones are released.

By justin T on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

hi
The hooke also features real time in-ear monitoring
this does not bleed through to the recording when enabled, so voice and or speech should no bleed through either
the microphones are very isolated

@brad, this is great feedback thank you! I will definitely look into these items.

At the moment, I haven't settled on what speech the headset will have. You guys make a good point for verbal commands instead of just beeps tho :-)

By AnthonyM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

In reply to by sockhopsinger

@sockhopsinger, I love that Stephen king album! I truthfully believe the popularity of the smartphone is what will bring this to mainstream status. I found you all from my smartphone after all! :-)

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

One question though. What's the spl, like can I record the vegas new years fireworks which are about as loud as the 2009 spaceship launch was, that is, so loud the crowd noises disappeared and all you heard was noise. If I do record that this time or even the mirage volcano, will the mics be able to take that wit out clipping? That is, how much head room do I have on its lowest setting? For those that have heard my archives you all know I record some very strange stuff to put it lightly. i try to make it high quality strange stuff though. Lol!

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

Wo! Um? I have no words. and that was on the lowest setting of the software? That came out decent. I'm not listening in head phones right now but from what I can hear, that's pretty cool! Of corse usign voice over to adjust anything would not even be possible, so for me when I do that, it's record low, and process later. I can always turn it up.

By jessiepp on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

hello there anothany how are you doing, it is jessie, just ordered me a set of your ear phones. do you need help in testing the app i am willing to help you as well let me know.

Nice, enjoyed reading that blog post. Once you've done whatever necessary to improve the accessibility of the app, it'd be great if you followed up with a post explaining a bit about what was done, how it was done, and how long it took. It can be as techie as ya like - my thinking is that it'd be a post we could show developers who need a bit of encouragement to improve their accessibility.

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

Agreed. I think you are one of the very few devs out there who actually care and want to make their hardware/software accessible for all of us.

Keep it up.

By AnthonyM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

In reply to by jessiepp

@jessiep, thank you so much! Will definitely post the app to all to test when we have it ready :-)

By jessiepp on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

how can i follow you on twitter anthony.

By bee on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hi everyone!
Since I read AnthonyM blog post.
I can say I'm quite impress with his awareness with our community.
I can say you are very good developer that show your work that will be accessible for everyone for real.
And your response to our community it was so awsome for eal.
I can't wait for your product to launch.
Thanks again for your awareness to blind community all over the world.
With warm regard!

By Ken Downey on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

First of all, all all I can say is: wow! I'm almost speechless right now. I've just heard a sample of Hooke for the first time. I'm definitely going to buy a pair of these!
I'm assuming you can hear what's going on as you record? This has another application no one has considered yet.
I have fluctuating hearing loss. Sometimes it's barely noticeable, and sometimes I am almost totally deaf.
I've used hearing aids in the past, and always hated m. The biggest reason is that it's very disorienting. Hearing aids just don't give you any positional feedback at all, so I don't know where people are when they talk to me, and it's just plain hard to get around that way. This system could solve all that!
Right now, the main thing I use to augment my hearing is an Olympus dm901 recorder. It records in a fairly decent 3d audio, but nothing like Hooke. I was dumbfounded by the quality, and I'm definitely going to save up some money to get these ASAP!
I'm literally stunned by the qualiTy of the sound you're getting with Hooke. I'M literally in awe of ed. Thanks so much for making this equipment accessible.
By the way, for the gain level, you could just use a standard slider from Apple's generic gui system if Voiceover is on. There is code you can use to determine this.' When it's off, you could display the normal slider you've been yusing, so the sighted people get to see your cool graphics, and the blind get the slider we know.
Again, thanks for this!

By Ka Yat Li on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

Hi:
When I heard about this and listened to your demos, I was extremely impressed with the audio quality. I definitely plan on buying one.

I apologize if someone has asked this question and it has been answered but does the mics work with other apps such as Periscope and other recording apps?
Thanks.

Ka Li

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

It should, I was wondering that as well. I was thinking it being bluetooth it will work with apps that support bluetooth, but I really don't know. I guess we wait for the answer. *smiles*

@Ken, thank you! Yes, you can hear what you're recording as you're recording. Since they're also headphones, they can monitor what you're recording and you can control how much level comes through when recording.

Ah that's perfect on the gain adjustment slider! That's most likely what we'll use then. Thank yoU!

Best,
Anthony :-)

By AnthonyM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

In reply to by Ka Yat Li

Hi @Ka, thanks so much for the kind words!

Right now, you can only record 3d audio through the Hooke app which honestly works just like your native camera. However, once Hooke becomes more popular in the market, OS's will begin to implement our firmware natively. I'm confident of it :-)

By AbleTec on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

Anthony, there's a blind musicians' list called midimag (yeah--I know--the name just says midi, but it really pertains to all sorts of audio). I think once you come out w/your product, you might do well to go up there, tell them about your product, & just interact w/folks as you're doing here. There are a lot of folks on that list who'd love this product, of that I'm 100% certain. I'm going to munge this email so it won't be available to spam harvesters, but you can subscribe using the address:
midimag hyphen subscribe at midimag dot org

It's the best list on the internet, bar none. It started back in '94, & there are still folks on it from back then. I myself have been a member since 2000 & was its administrator for quite a few years. I think the longevity of so many of the members speaks volumes about the list's caliber.

Thanks for coming up here & joining us--thanks to Justin for referring you--& please do consider hopping up on midimag also. It's great making your acquaintance.

By AnthonyM on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

@AbleTec, done and done! Thank you so much for the recommendation! I've put it on our list of people to reach out to once we ship product!

By chad on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 04:42

hi anthany i ordered the headset wondering when they start rolling out
i wrote you guys on the site but never got a response
looking forward to testing these out
can't wait