Best Tech of 2017 So Far

Here One

The next time you’re sitting on a planewith a wailing baby, imagine being able to simply turn down the poor kid’s volume. Or you’re hanging out in a crowded bar, struggling to hear your friends, and you boost just their voices. That’s the promise behind Doppler Labs’ Here One earbuds, which let users manipulate sounds in the world around them thanks to onboard microphones and sound processors. In practice, the Here Ones are often better are quieting general background noise rather than specific sounds. But Doppler’s innovation reveals how the headphone tech of tomorrow could make us masters of the audio universe around us.