Story Behind OpenMove (Part Three): The Reliability Test

Introducing OpenMove: a brand new model of bone conduction headphones. In the last blog, we talked about the idea behind the OpenMove. Now it’s time to look at how we developed OpenMove. 1: LISTEN IN COMFORT “IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE TO USE IN-EAR/OVER-EAR HEADPHONES” When you use headphones everyday, sound quality isn’t the only thing you care about. Comfort is also key. In order to provide the most comfortable listening experience,our R&D team tested and adjusted the wearing position, and tested the comfort of the earphones with over 600 headphone users. We even tested it on ourselves! An OpenMove project engineer wore the headphones for more than 20 hours on a flight, to test the comfort of the earphones during a long journey. Our team also focused on the design and manufacturing process for the new headphones, stretching the limits of what is possible with modern molded plastic. The vertical stripes on one side of the earphone shell make them more tactile for ease of adjusting their position during daily activities; the other side offers headphone protection and the vertical bars play a role in guiding sweat away. In order to make the overall material more skin-friendly and to ensure comfort when worn for long periods of time, we strictly control the industrial design standards of the earphone contact area to achieve seamless assembly. Through 4 rounds of wearing tests, 13-wheel-computer interaction design, and more than 150 prototypes, the R&D team finally obtained an OpenMove with superior performance in comfort and stability. 2: STAY PUT THROUGH ALL MOVEMENTS “IT’S ANNOYING IF I HAVE TO KEEP ADJUSTING MY HEADPHONES” When it comes to headphones, it’s all about a secure and stable fit. No one wants a headset that slips, or that you need to frequently adjust during exercise or day to day activity. With this in mind, our R&D team simulated conditions that may be encountered in different scenarios and put together a number of tests to see how the structural design of the headset performed, ensuring total stability for any level of movement. 3: SUPERB MIC FOR PHONE CALLS ON THE GO “I WANT TO MAKE CALLS EASILY, WITH CRYSTAL CLEAR SOUND.” Our R&D team chose a mic for OpenMove to help achieve crystal clear calls, even in noisy situations. We wanted to ensure the mic and audio quality of OpenMove rivalled all other headphones on the market that offer clear calling. Our team tested the mic during the noisiest times of the day to achieve the best call quality from the design of the microphone. In order to achieve the best call quality, the design of the microphone has been a very important element to get right. Due to space in the internal structure being very limited, the R&D team had to think about distance, orientation, position, relative relationship, and sound cavity design to suppress the potential for vibration and echo to the greatest extent. Our engineers focus on the finest of details, to achieve the best noise reduction effect they found the optimal distance between the two microphones within the earphones to be exactly 23.3 millimeters. Taking into account the size of the earphones, it took more than 10 different product iterations, for the R&D team to finally create a microphone and earphones with the perfect call quality. A challenge for us but we think the end results are worth it. 4: BLUETOOTH CONNECTION “I WANT WIRELESS CONNECTION ON THE GO.” To ensure the best connection, our R&D team chose to use the same Bluetooth chip as our flagship Aeropex headphones. The high-pass QCC3024 chip ensures a quick and stable Bluetooth connection. The team then tested the connection in day-to-day scenarios, and the final results proved that the Bluetooth connection in OpenMove exceeded the industry standard of the longest distance for Bluetooth connection, between phone and headphones, in the open environment. Our design team extensively tested the stability of the Bluetooth connection in challenging situations, such as where the background is very noisy or the environment might obstruct the connection. Our final tests proved that the Bluetooth connection remains stable, providing a call quality you can rely on.   NEXT STORY BEHIND OPENMOVE (PART THREE): THE RELIABILITY TEST

Introducing OpenMove: a brand new model of bone conduction headphones. Over a three-part series, we’ll be exploring how the idea for OpenMove came to being, and how we developed and tested it, to bring bone conduction technology to a new audience.We wanted to make bone conduction technology and open ear music accessible for all people on the move; not just our usual audience of pro-athletes. Our aim with OpenMove is to bring the top-of-the-range technologies to a new audience so they can experience the benefits of open ear bone conduction headphones for the first time. The new OpenMove packs our powerful bone conduction technology with open ear design, plus the latest Bluetooth, in one powerful headset, for only £79.95. Want to find out a bit more about the new OpenMove design? Let’s start with some research. THE MAIN IDEA BEHIND OPENMOVE WAS TO MAKE OPEN EAR SAFETY AND COMFORT MORE EASILY AVAILABLE AND ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL. With safety and comfort crucial for people on the move, AfterShokz wanted to create something which combined great sound quality, felt comfortable to wear, and provided a safe listening experience. We wanted to offer people, who may not be familiar with AfterShokz and bone conduction technology, the opportunity to experience this for themselves. During our research, we found that the number of pedestrians who have been injured while wearing headphones has more than tripled in six years - because the headphones they were wearing were isolating them from their surroundings.  This inspired us to create a solution for all kinds of people on the move, that would allow them to have a greater awareness of traffic-heavy and busy situations whilst enjoying wearing their headphones, thanks to our patented bone conduction technology.  With Titanium, Air to Aeropex, AfterShokz engineers had been focusing on headphones for pro-athletes, but we believe that comfort, situational awareness, and the secure fit that come with our open ear bone conduction headphones, can benefit every active person. It was an exciting challenge for us, to bring all the benefits of open ear bone conduction headphones we’ve created for professional athletes, to mass consumers, and from this idea, AfterShokz formed a new product line: OpenMove.   BUT, WHY OPENMOVE? Open, refers to open ear listening. Move, to show that these headphones are for people on the move and that they fit into all sorts of active lifestyles. You don’t have to be training seriously, taking part in sport, or competing, to experience the benefits of open ear bone conduction headphones. Whether, listening to a podcast while walking to work, relaxing with music during your daily yoga session, or heading out for an evening run, it feels good to enjoy your headphones in complete comfort whilst maintaining awareness of your surroundings. OPENMOVE; FROM THE NEW GENERATION OF ENGINEERS OpenMove has been designed by a group of young engineers, with an average age of  27. Everyone involved with the project has an interest in sports and follows an active lifestyle, so from their own personal perspective, they understand the needs and wants of young people on-the-move. It was an amazing opportunity for our engineers to give their creativity free rein and design a product they would be excited to use themselves. Let young people make headphones for themselves, is important.   NEXT STORY BEHIND OPENMOVE (PART TWO): THE CHALLENGE BEHIND OPENMOVE