Tag Immersive

The ubiquity of smartphones has made these communication tools the perfect portable media players as well, allowing owners to enjoy their tunes, podcasts, and even videos at any given time or place. But while smartphones are great for private listening, even the most powerful smartphone speakers have limits, especially once the sound starts to distort at maximum volumes. Speakers can help spread the sound, but only as much and as far as their batteries or power cords take them. This distinctive smartphone speaker, in contrast, harnesses the laws of physics to take your tunes farther and immerse you and your friends in moving sounds, all without using any power and looking quite handsome to boot!

Designer: Ooi Masato of Pit-A-Pat for Shimawa

Click Here to Buy Now: $152 $179 (15% off at checkout). Hurry, Holiday Sale ends in 24 hours!

At one point in time, there was a breed of speakers that boasted requiring no electricity, no batteries, and absolutely no power at all to operate. These accessories acted as echo chambers to naturally amplify sounds, offering a simple and sustainable option to common speakers. Most of these, however, used plastic or at most wood to avoid the effects of vibrations, leaving their aesthetics and textures much to be desired.

The speaker is an innovative and unique take on this kind of no-power smartphone speaker that, unlike the rest of its kin, uses metal to offer a product whose value goes beyond its function. It uses Duralumin, a type of aluminum alloy that’s used in the aviation and aerospace industries because of its vibration-resistant properties and durability. Thanks to this, all you need to do is insert your smartphone into the speaker and feel the sound envelope you from all sides.

The choice of metal for this speaker’s material also gives the battery-free speaker a unique aesthetic you’d be hard-pressed to find in similar products. With a minimalist and retro industrial style, the speaker adds some character to any surface or space it is placed on. This elegant design is achieved through the use of the famed golden ratio to create a more natural proportion of the form’s shapes, particularly the different sizes of the speaker holes. Whether standing on its own or holding your smartphone, the speaker easily grabs your attention without being dominating or distracting.

And if you want to give the speaker a little more oomph, figuratively and literally, there are custom accessories you can screw into the holes to tweak the experience a bit. Reminiscent of airplane engines, Jet focuses and delivers sound in the direction the attachments are facing. Bloom, on the other hand, diffuses sound along the curves that try to resemble a blooming flower. Enjoy an immersive audio experience with this electricity-free smartphone speaker that requires no power to use and looks captivating anywhere you place it.

Click Here to Buy Now: $152 $179 (15% off at checkout). Hurry, Holiday Sale ends in 24 hours!

AR sunglasses represent a growing market, offering alternatives to VR headsets equipped with mixed-reality pass-through (like the Meta Quest 2 and 3). One of the selling points is style; since they’re smaller and lighter, and since they look like actual sunglasses, you can theoretically wear them outside of your house without catching weird looks. And they usually have at least a few unique features and applications that make them worth using out in public, for instance, blowing up your handheld gaming device into a virtual home theatre while sitting on the bus.

Xreal, formerly Nreal, just announced its newest pair of XR glasses, the Air 2 and Air 2 Pro. They’re not scheduled to officially release until next month; they ship out in the United States, Britain, and key parts of Europe in late November at $399 and $449, respectively. But reviews are already rolling in, with interesting insights about the Xreal Air 2’s usability and cost performance.

Designer: Ranxin Zhou (via Xreal)

TechRadar seemed to love the Air 2’s “comfortable, lightweight design” while warning potential buyers to steer clear if they don’t travel around with one of the few compatible devices, like a gaming PC, due to its lack of standalone functionality. But it sounds like the real use case for the Xreal glasses is taking mixed-reality passthrough with you on the go, meaning it’s best-designed for owners of the Steam Deck or the ASUS ROG Ally.

Both glasses come with 1080p Sony Micro OLED displays capable of displaying 500 nits of brightness through a 46-degree field of view, which is optimal for playing “flat” games on a static screen rather than engaging in full 6DoF VR or MR gameplay. They also seem to run fast – up to 120 Hz, which is also great for gaming. Its built-in “cinematic audio” speakers are also getting a bump from the original Air glasses as well, and are advertised as being specially designed to reduce audio leakage.

The Air Pro 2 seems like the real star of the show, using its exclusive dimming control feature to reduce outside light sources down to 0%, making for a far more immersive experience while playing games and watching movies in home theatre mode. Though it does indeed work with PCs, it seems to underwhelm (according to reviewers) when compared to far more versatile VR headsets like the Quest 2/3 and Valve Index, but strangely enough, the hype cycle surrounding the vastly superior Apple Vision Pro still drove sales for Xreal in July 2023.

Xreal Air 2 and Air 2 Pro are set to officially release for $399 and $449 in late November 2023.

Tapping into your body’s ability to relax with sound, and its natural intuition to wake up to sunrise, the Aura Smart Sleep Mask helps you relax, rest, and wake up fully rejuvenated by creating the perfect conditions your body needs. With a 100% blackout design, the sleep mask completely engulfs you in darkness no matter what time of the day it is or how illuminated your space is. Integrated speakers in the sides of the mask, and a warm LED beam placed in front of your eyes combine to create the perfect setup for sleep, meditation, and recharging. The speakers play a variety of sounds through the Aura app, from ASMR to relaxing soundscapes from nature around the world, while the LED light beam provides light therapy, recreating the effects of a sunrise so you wake up feeling fully recharged without grogginess.

Designers: Adrian Wong and W.H.

Click Here to Buy Now: $159 $329 ($170 off). Hurry, only 10/474 left! Raised over $125,000.

Ads all over the internet will have you believe that medicines are the key to restful sleep. There’s a pill or a special tea brew or a multivitamin gummy for virtually everything… but the problem with those over-the-counter solutions is that your body probably doesn’t need them. All it needs are some changes to your environment. The Aura Smart Sleep Mask creates those changes with its clever design that completely blocks external light, and plays relaxing audio to help you drift off to sleep. The blackout design is remarkably effective, sealing any potential areas where light could leak in from. However, it does so without necessarily pressing a black pad against your eyes. The blackout design features an empty chamber around your eyes, allowing you to keep your eyes open and even blink while wearing the Aura. As someone who uses a similar zero-pressure blackout mask myself, I can testify that they’re incredibly comfortable and highly effective.

Step 1: Pair with Aura app & tailor your Dreamscape.

Step 2: Put on Aura.

Step 3: Enjoy your relaxation sessions with the optional light therapy.

Step 4: Experience total blackout & enter sleep nirvana.

The Aura Smart Mask pairs with Aura’s smartphone app (available on both Android and iOS devices), letting you select relaxing and meditative soundscapes, sound therapy routines, and guided meditations. The app also lets you configure the light strip, adding optional light therapy to your relaxation/sleep routine. The soft warm lights calm you down and gently coax your body into a state of wakefulness like a sunrise alarm instead of suddenly triggering you awake like an alarm clock.

The benefits of restful sleep are pretty much known to everyone. Good sleep helps recharge the brain, rebuild neural pathways, and improve mood, memory, and overall health and lifespan. However, good sleep can be induced naturally instead of through supplements – a practice that Aura hopes to inculcate. Wearing the Aura helps you enter a state of relaxation just by its soft fabric construction and its ability to completely envelop you in darkness, and the Aura app takes things further, letting you relax effectively, meditate without distractions, and have deeper REM sleep. The sleep mask is compact enough to carry on trips, can be worn on long journeys (especially those exhausting red-eye flights), and is accommodating enough to be worn while sleeping no matter whether you’re a back, side, or stomach sleeper.

Each Aura Smart Sleep Mask sports a soft, face-conforming design that weighs a mere 130 grams (4.5 ounces). A velcro strap helps securely attach the mask to your face, with a 3D memory foam eye cushion that cuts out light leakage and can be hand or machine-washed every few weeks. The headset comes with intuitive controls located on the top that let you power the device as well as adjust the volume, and a USB-C port lets you charge the Aura’s built-in battery, which lasts for a week on a full charge. You can grab your Aura Smart Sleep Mask for a discounted price of $159, and download the Aura app for free on iOS or Android devices.

Click Here to Buy Now: $159 $329 ($170 off). Hurry, only 10/474 left! Raised over $125,000.

As a child, we’ve all dreamed of having a large enchanting treehouse in our backyards. A place we can play all day in, and spend our summer coasting above the ground, in the canopy of a beautiful tree. As an adult, we can actually make that dream come true with Casa Monoculo. Designed by Brasília-based architect Alan Chu, the Casa Monoculo is a contemporary Brazilian home that is situated above the densely forested area of Eldorado, a neighborhood of Alto Paraiso City. The stunning home is elevated above the ground and is designed to provide a unique twist on the concept of treetop living. But it is not simply an ordinary treehouse, it is spacious and modern, no different than any of the finely done villas you see today. It provides expansive views of the beautiful surroundings while creating a luxurious living experience.

Pros:

• Provide a luxurious treetop living experience
• Provides long stunning vistas of the city, sunrise, and the mountains

Cons:

• Doesn’t seem like the house can accommodate a large number of guests, better suited for smaller parties

Designer: Alan Chu

The site is located near the city center, it required working with unusual conditions. Despite its location, it is surrounded by greenery and preserved Cerrado vegetation, which required the architect to adopt a sensitive approach. He elevated the structure from the ground, to ensure that no disturbance was caused to the existing nature, and no trees had to be cut down. As a result, the home is supported by 12 black metal pillars, five meters above the ground. It touches the ground quite lightly and also provides the residents with long stunning views of the city, sunrise, and the mountains in the distance.

Called Casa Monoculo, the house is named after the traditional monocle which translates to monóculo’ in Portuguese. The entire home was designed with the intention to frame experiences and capture and elevate the beautiful environment via the thoughtfully and well-done setup. An impressive winding staircase welcomes visitors from the ground to the house above, allowing them to connect to the surroundings on their way up.

“The Monóculo house has been designed to not only leave an everlasting memory of the view but to have provided its guests with a unique and unforgettable experience,” said Chu. And, truly the home functions as a warm, inviting, and spacious living setup that makes you feel truly connected with nature, and allows you to appreciate it admiringly from a distance.