Innovation of the week: Your own personal cloud of sound
No headphones needed!

"If you work in a crowded office, you're probably considerate enough to wear a pair of headphones so you don't disturb your co-workers with your raucous tunes," said Nicole Lee at Engadget.com. That courtesy could soon be rendered obsolete, thanks to the Soundlazer VR directional speaker, which wraps the listener "in a private cloud of sound."
A slim device that hangs suspended over your desk, the speaker uses "planar wave technology" to focus crisp-sounding audio straight at your ears. Walk a few feet away, and whatever's coming out of the speaker becomes softer and more muffled until, at about 8 feet, it's nothing more than "background noise." The Soundlazer VR, which launched on Kickstarter last week, can be preordered starting at $209 for the full-size overhanging model and $169 for a more diminutive desktop version. It's expected to ship in October.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Tea app hack: user data stolen from women's dating safety app
In The Spotlight Data leak has led to fears users could be targeted by men angered by the app's premise
-
The Assassin: action-packed caper is 'terrific fun'
The Week Recommends Keeley Hawes stars as a former hitwoman drawn out of retirement for 'one last job'
-
The EPA wants to green-light approval for a twice-banned herbicide
Under the radar Dicamba has been found to harm ecosystems