Bose Design Challenge: How might sound-based augmented reality improve our lives?
By Jessie Ying


“We, especially as college students, understand the struggles of living in an active and fast-paced world where everyone is constantly trying to make the most use of their time,” Beth said.They quickly decided to focus on the issue of communication.

“There were many times where we would see someone and want to say hi or ask a quick question. But we are either too far apart or it’d be inconvenient to go up to them, like when we are across a busy street or in a crowded hallway,” Zining shared.The noise cancelling feature on Bose headphones made it even harder for users to hear each other. Therefore, the team decided to use AR technology to turn headphones from something that might impede communication into a powerful tool that facilitates it. Just like their team name suggested, their idea was: Bose users can start a phone conversation by simply nodding to each other, without having to touch their phones or headsets at all. They designed a demo iOS app that would gather users’ phone numbers and connect users if they are in close proximity. Sensing a nod from the user, a call will be automatically made to the other user and will be dropped if the user shakes his or her head. In the future, they hope to use GPS data from users’ phones and motion data from sensors on the headsets to determine whether to initiate a call based on if users are facing someone within their Bose social network and if they nod in the direction of that person. They also envision making the call through VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) rather than cellular.

Kristjan gave his takeaway: “Even when things look pretty bad, pull through and don’t give up. Use it as motivation to work even harder.”The other teams that made it into the top three also presented their ideas at the wrap-up event. The Soundscape team designed a music therapy app that would automatically play music when users go past designated areas, which is especially helpful for people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s. The Marco Polo team designed a tool that could guide Bose users through space using ambisonics (full-sphere surround sound) which is particularly useful for the visually-impaired. All three teams received Bose hardware as prizes. The Nod ‘n Talk team will also get Bose AR glasses once they are released in January next year and have the opportunity to present their idea to the Bose leadership. They hope to continue with the idea and see how far they can take it.
We asked the students how they felt about the challenge:
Kristjan: One thing I really liked about the challenge was the opportunity to practice my presentation skills in the final event. Pitching to people in the industry is different than in the safe setting in the classroom. It was a good experience.
Zining: It was really cool to see what we can accomplish once we put our minds to it. It was definitely a great experience and I’m very glad to have participated in this challenge, especially with this team.
Jovin: I think I definitely learned a lot with and from my group mates, such opportunities are great cause there is nothing to lose (maybe except sleep) but so much to gain (not only in terms of prizes, but also learning experiences.)
Beth: This was a great opportunity to be introduced to the industry, but what made the experience so valuable was being able to work with a team of incredibly hardworking individuals. They pushed me to be resilient, to think outside of the box, to put in the extra hours, and to also take a break. Working in this team, on this project, has taught me more than I can in class, so I am incredibly grateful.
John: It felt amazing. It’s a great opportunity to work among the brilliant minds here at Berkeley. I’ve only been here a few months, and I can already tell how much the Berkeley staff care about their engineering students. I am grateful to have the chance to gain exposure to design challenges like these, and it feels great to be able to have some success.
Augmenting sound into reality: A Bose design challenge was originally published in Berkeley Master of Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.