nura was founded in 2015 by Dr. Luke Campbell, Dr. Dragan Petrović and Kyle Slater. The company's proprietary technology that measures otoacoustic emissions is based on research that Campbell, a medical doctor and hearing scientist, conducted at the Department of Otolaryngology University of Melbourne.
Funding
Melbourne Accelerator Program
The Melbourne Accelerator Program granted nura an Entrepreneurial Fellowship in 2015, giving nura office space, mentoring and $20,000 in funding to develop the initial prototype of the nuraphone using the personalisation technology.
nura ran a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter between May 16, 2016, and July 15, 2016, to raise funds to begin mass production of the nuraphone. The campaign's initial goal of $100,000 was reached in 14 hours. The Kickstarter campaign ultimately raised $1.8 million from the 7730 backers to become the largest Kickstarter campaign in Australian history.
nura officially began operations on October 3, 2017, giving the general public access to the nuraphone.
Products
nuraphone
The nuraphone is a headphone that personalises sound by measuring how the human ear responds to different sound frequencies and is patent-protected as the only consumer electronics headphone to do so by monitoring otoacoustic emissions.
Reception
The nuraphone has received positive reviews, with reviewers commending the quality and uniqueness of the nuraphone's personalised sound. Some reviewers have noted the nuraphone's unusual combined in-ear and over-ear design; however, many reviewers also praised the comfort and design.
Publication
Score
Wired
8/10
TechRadar
4/5
Tech Advisor
4/5
Stuff
5/5
MusicRadar
4.5/5
Trusted Reviews
4/5
Pocket-lint
4/5
Like Hifi
95%
Head-Fi
8.5/10
Pickr
4.3/5
Alphr
4/5
Expert Reviews
4/5
nuraphone /G2
nura released a free firmware update for the nuraphone in July 2018 that enabled additional features such as active noise cancellation, audio passthrough, and enhancements to voice calls and button presses.
Design and Technology
Personalisation
The nuraphone's personalisation works by monitoring the user's otoacoustic emissions and then adjusting sound based on the measurements, allowing the user to hear more detail when listening to music.
Design
The nuraphone has a patented design that includes both in-ear monitors and over-ear cups.
Tesla valves
The nuraphone features Tesla valves that circulate air through the ear cups to keep the user's ears cool during use.
The nuraphone won the Red Dot Award 2018 Best of the Best, the top prize in Red Dot Award: Product Design in the consumer electronics category. Previous winners include Apple AirPods and Google Home.
