TOKYO (BRAIN) — A Japanese entrepreneur is launching a Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign to product a wireless headset that allows groups of up to 10 people to talk to each other via a cellular data connection. The Bonx Grip headset is being marketed to outdoor sports enthusiasts including cyclists.
The company, founded by Takahiro Miyasaka, has previously conducted a crowd-funding campaign in Japan that raised about $200,000. Bonx delivered devices to about 1,300 backers of that campaign and then refined the product before launching the Indiegogo campaign to bring the product to an international market.
The Bonx Grip is a headset with built-in dual microphones. It connects to a smartphone app via Bluetooth, then uses cell data to send an audio file to other members of the group. The group members can be anywhere as long as they have a cell connection. The app can run in the background and uses voice recognition to automatically pick up speech and send it, without the need to press a microphone button.
The Indiegogo campaign is trying to raise $100,000. As of Wednesday, with about a month to go, it had raised $47,000. Backers are being offered a pre-order of two BONX devices for a pledge of $150, about half of what the product will sell for after the campaign. The company is promising to deliver the BONX to backers this fall.
More information: go.bonx.co.
