The Sound of Thought
I recently stumbled upon a piece of technology that has brought me immense joy: open-ear headphones from a company called NG Earsafe. For years, I struggled with conventional earphones, but these, which use bone conduction technology, have been a revelation. At 91, I can now lie in bed and listen to my favorite old songs on YouTube without disturbing my wife's sleep. The sound is clear, even if I place the device on my neck or forehead. It is a small innovation that has made a significant difference in my daily life.
My compliments go to the founders, Meet Shah and Raj Shah, for their brilliant work. It's also clear that investors like Mitesh Shah of Inflection Point Ventures have a keen eye for technology that genuinely solves a human problem. They have not just created a product; they have enhanced an experience.
The Next Step: A Wireless Voice
This delightful experience inevitably led my mind to wonder about the future. If we can bypass the eardrum to hear sound, what is the next frontier? I imagine a day, not too far off, where we wear what look like ordinary eyeglasses. These glasses, however, would be integrated with a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). Simply by thinking of a song, the BCI would find it online and play it directly in our minds, a truly wireless voice.
This isn't a new line of thought for me. It resonates deeply with ideas I've explored before. The core idea I want to convey is this — I had brought up this thought on the topic years ago. In my post, "Sound of Devices is Unstoppable", I had already predicted a future dominated by invasive, interconnected devices that constantly gather data from our environment. Seeing bone conduction technology become a consumer reality is a powerful validation of that earlier insight. Reflecting on it today, I feel a renewed urgency to consider the implications, because we are rapidly moving from devices we carry to devices we wear, and eventually, to technologies that merge with our very being.
The Unstoppable March
While the convenience is undeniable, the trajectory is clear. We are heading towards a world where technology becomes increasingly invisible and integrated. The same technology that allows me to listen to music through thought could also monitor those thoughts. As I wrote previously, can any law truly keep pace with devices the size of dust motes, embedded sensors, and AI that learns from our every interaction?
The journey from NG Earsafe's headphones to thought-powered audio is a perfect example of this duality. It begins with a simple, elegant solution to a common problem, but it points toward a future where the lines between human and machine, private and public, blur into oblivion. The sound of the future may be silent, but its impact will be loud.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
Of course, if you wish, you can debate this topic with my Virtual Avatar at : hemenparekh.ai
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