LifeBeam artificial intelligence headphones put a biosensing fitness coach in your ear - CNET

Most wearable fitness trackers give you the option to choose your own headphones to listen to while you exercise, but the new Vi headphones from LifeBeam actually bundles a pair of proprietary "biosensing" headphones along with an artificial intelligence app to put a personal fitness coach right in your ear.

Vi is outfitted with eleven inteal input sensors that keep track of variables like heart rate, location, weather, elevation, cadence, and more to develop a personal exercise regiment that fits your experience. The app adapts over time and once it gets to know you, it'll offer training plan recommendations and even real-time coaching via a lexicon of vocal cues while you work out.

So for example, say you fire up Vi right before you head out on your daily run. She'll start by analyzing the weather outside and adjust the route accordingly, asking if you'd prefer to train indoors today. If you tell her you'd like to go out anyway, Vi will do things like challenge you to beat your previous time on a specific route, read details like your heart rate and distance traveled aloud while you're running, and even motivate you with positive messages throughout your session. Vi's speech logic AI is all stored on the device, so she'll stay with you even if your route takes you beyond your network.

LifeBeam designed the wireless Vi headphones to be wo all day long, even when you're not exercising, and the company partnered with Harman Kardon to develop the inteal sound profile. There's a microphone built into the unit so you can answer phone calls on the run, or you can just listen to music when you pair it via Bluetooth.

The LifeBeam Vi has already reached beyond its $100,000 goal on Kickstarter, but you can still preorder a pair scheduled for delivery this December for $199 (about £140 or $270 AU), which is still $50 off the retail price.

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