Bragi and CEVA Collaborate to Redefine Hearable Devices

CEVA, a licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies, and Bragi, a German technology company, recently announced a strategic collaboration which was established with the goal of creating a class of hearable devices in which the user experience is customizable via the a “hearable” app store. Target devices include headsets, hearing aids, True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds and a host of other smart audio devices for the consumer and the smart home.

The partnership takes advantage of the low power CEVA-BX DSP architecture, along with its LLVM compiler and Eclipse based development tool chain, and Bragi 4, a newly defined operating system (OS) specialized for hearables. In conjunction with Bragi 4 OS, Bragi’s patented commercial app store reportedly will enable technology partners and experts to offer software apps and services such as voice activation, voice biometric, audio post processing and music services.

“Imagine buying headphones that adapt according to the needs of the user. Purchase noise-cancelling software just before boarding a plane. Encrypt communication data for sensitive business conversations. Discover that you hear better with voice amplification through try-to-buy offers. On business travel, use your headphones to translate from Chinese into English. Add a feature that alerts someone if your headphones detect you’ve fallen over. The possibilities are endless,” said Nikolaj Hviid, founder and CEO, Bragi.

The partners said that technology and hearable companies will be able to create and monetize apps and services on, potentially, tens of millions of devices with this solution. Consumer electronics brands will have a new selling platform from a direct relationship with the end-users of their products.

“Our collaboration with Bragi brings a game-changing approach to the design of hearables and other audio devices, where the user experience can be adapted, instantaneously,” said Moshe Sheier, VP, Marketing, CEVA. “Our CEVA-BX audio DSPs, voice processing and motion sensing software, and SenslinQ context-aware framework perfectly complement Bragi’s OS and unique capabilities in providing a direct channel for OEMs and ODMs to offer a customizable user experience to consumers through enhanced software and services.”