Darrell Huff, a 51-year-old automotive technician from Centreville, Md., wanted his quadriplegic son, Joshua, to be able to make calls on a cell phone. Unfortunately, all cell phones require button pushes, so Huff quickly thought of Bluetooth headsets as a solution.
Darrell Huff modified a BlueAnt V1 so it can be activated with a magnet.
(Credit: BlueAnt)He was especially intrigued by the BlueAnt V1, which has a unique voice-control interface that lets you make and answer calls with voice alone--there's even a voice-guided tutorial if you need some guidance. (The V1 is the predecessor to BlueAnt's more recent BlueAnt Q1).
But even the BlueAnt V1 wasn't 100 percent hands-free; you still needed to press the button to activate it. So Huff set out to find a way to activate the switch without the need for hands.
"I tried different things," Huff said. "It occurred to me a mercury switch might work, but my research soon showed that mercury is all but banned in the U.S. and I also began to worry about the user's perception... I tried using a roller ball-type tilt switch, but it is difficult to find one small enough and my experiments showed the connection with this type of switch was erratic."
After a lot of trial and error, Huff finally decided to use a magnetic switch.
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Darrell's son Joshua demonstrates the modified BlueAnt V1 with the flexible rod magnet.
(Credit: Darrell Huff)"I opened the headset and replaced the push button switch with a magnetically controlled switch," Huff explained. "The modified version of the headset has a switch that is closed when in the presence of a magnetic field. So when the headset is not near a magnet, the switch is open...If you move the headset near a magnet, then the switch closes--this is like pushing the button."
In case you need to push and hold the button, you would just keep the headset near the magnet for a few more seconds. Huff is careful to note that the switch itself is not magnetized; it just responds to a magnetic field.
Now all Huff had to do was mount a magnet so his son could move his head conveniently to activate the headset. He created one that is on the end of a 29-inch long and flexible rod that can be mounted to a wheelchair. At last, Huff had created a genuinely "hands-free" Bluetooth headset.
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BlueAnt S1
(Credit: BlueAnt)BlueAnt is no stranger to Bluetooth speakerphones. The BlueAnt Supertooth 3 and the Supertooth Light from years past were favorably reviewed, and for good reason. The Supertooth 3 especially impressed us due to its ability to translate text to speech, which meant it could read out incoming caller IDs to us.
The latest BlueAnt S1 is not quite so advanced (it is meant to be a lower-end and more affordable model), but it does add a couple of cool new features the others lacked. The S1 has multipoint technology, which means it can connect up to two devices simultaneously, and it has stereo Bluetooth compatibility, which lets it stream music wirelessly from your phone. It's also a little cheaper at $79 retail.
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BlueAnt S1
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)
Buttons on the BlueAnt S1
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)BlueAnt introduced a new visor-mount speakerphone at CTIA 2009, called the BlueAnt S1. Designed to work in the car, it has pretty much the same features as the Supertooth 3, except it has support for A2DP. That means you can stream music wirelessly to it from a device that has stereo Bluetooth. It's not really meant as a stereo speaker system though, so don't expect it to replace your expensive car stereo.
Like the other BlueAnt devices, the S1 lets you use your voice to make and answer calls. It also has multipoint, which means it can connect with up to two different devices at the same time, and it has background noise reduction too. However, unlike the Supertooth 3, it doesn't have a text-to-speech feature that will read out incoming caller ID. The BlueAnt S1 will be available later this year around June or July for $79 each.
BlueAnt Q1 to be available in Q2 2009.
(Credit: BlueAnt)One of our favorite Bluetooth headsets for 2008 was the BlueAnt V1, the world's first voice-controlled Bluetooth headset. Well, BlueAnt is certainly not resting on its laurels. It just announced the BlueAnt Q1, a brand-new headset that combines the voice interface technology from the V1 with a stylish gunmetal design.
The new design promises to "virtually eliminate" wind and ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
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(Credit:
BlueAnt Wireless)
Since most people wearing Bluetooth headsets already look like they're talking to themselves, it won't seem that much odder when they start talking to their actual headsets.
They'll now be able to do that (and get something out of it) with BlueAnt Wireless' new V1. The device, which the company calls the first voice-controlled Bluetooth headset, lets users sidestep the buttons and instead control functionality with phrases like "pair me," "call home," "call favorite," "call Goog-411," and "accept or ignore call."
Driving alone? Now you can chat with your headset.
(Credit: BlueAnt Wireless)But this is no passive Bluetooth headset. The BlueGenie Voice Interface software on the V1 talks back to consumers, alerting them of settings like battery power level and connection status. The software also tells users how to set up the device and contains an instruction manual and menu options, all accessible via preprogrammed English voice commands.
BlueAnt says the V1 incorporates "voice isolation" technology so you and your headset can chat in peace.
The $130 peripheral offers up to 5 hours of talk time, or up to 200 hours of standby, and can be charged via USB, and car and wall chargers. It pairs with up to eight Bluetooth devices.
But voice commands may be on their way to other headsets, as well. Sensory, which makes the Blue Genie Voice Interface app, has released a "BlueGenie Lite" version for lower-cost headsets that don't have the memory or processing power for the full BlueGenie getup.
BlueAnt V1
(Credit: BlueAnt)BlueAnt is mostly repeating its CES lineup at CTIA this year, so we won't belabor you too much with old news, though we do want to go into further detail on the BlueAnt V1. If you'll recall, the BlueAnt V1 is what BlueAnt is calling the world's first voice-controlled Bluetooth headset. It uses "BlueGenie" technology, which involves a system of voice recognition and voice synthesis to recognize the voice without a lot of training. Some of the voice commands include the expected "Answer Call" and "Redial" but our favorite is probably "Goog411" which will automatically connect you to Google's 411 service. I believe only English is supported at this point, but according to BleAnt, they plan to incorporate more languages in the future. It also boasts dual-microphone technology plus voice isolation, which would reduce environmental noise and protect against wind noise as well. It'll be available for $119.
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