Woojer Edge: strap some haptic bass to your chest

16 Aug 2019 by Robin Vincent |

5,0 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 3 Minutes

Woojer Edge · Source: Woojer

Woojer Strap Edge · Source: Woojer

Woojer Vest Edge · Source: Woojer

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The Woojer Edge is a transducer device that you strap to yourself to add energy and bodily response to music and interactive media. Available as the Strap Edge or Vest Edge if you want full immersion they say this will revolutionise music production as well as music consumption probably without giving you a heart attack.

Woojer Edge

It’s for gaming, of course it’s for gaming. Any gamer can appreciate the helpfulness of haptic feedback from rattling controllers to vibrating chairs. The Woojer Edge Stap and Vest just take it further and offer what looks like a fabulous immersive experience when gaming especially if you combine it with Virtual Reality. “Ready Player One” takes another step forward. But Woojer has other applications in mind with the Strap Edge and Vest Edge suggesting that along with enhancing your music listening pleasure it could also do wonders music producers.

The idea is that the embedded transducers will pump low frequencies into your very bones giving you a “unique and mesmerising audio experience”. It’s a bit like standing in the bass bin at a gig. The sound comes into the device via Bluetooth or line input and then you plug your headphones into the output. The device then responds to the bass and pumps that into your chest.

There are two versions. The Strap Edge is a single transducer attached to a belt that you can strap across your chest, abdomen, arms or legs depending on the application. It’s very portable, reasonably discrete (not exactly!) and perfectly monophonic for bass frequencies. The Vest Edge looks like a tactical contraption and it has 6 transducers; 2 at the back, 2 at the front and 2 at the sides. As you can imagine this looks pretty nuts if you are out and about listening to music but no one would bat an eyelid if you were playing games in your living room let alone wearing a VR helmet. Perfect for those first-person shooters.

Woojer Strap Edge · Source: Woojer

But what could it offer the music producer? In the promo video they have the producer guy wearing the vest while mixing. I’m interested to know how that would change your perspective, what it would alter in the mix with the feel of the bass pulsing through your bones? Also, I wonder about how this translates to a finished mix because no one is going to appreciate the nuance of your body-blow bass if they don’t have a Strap or Vest themselves.

Woojer Vest Edge · Source: Woojer

I think it’s a fabulous idea for gaming and quite intriguing for music listening. Just can’t quite wrap my head around the music production side. Maybe they’ll just have to send me one to try! Could also be fun when watching movies although you’d need one for everybody and then you’d have to work out how they all get the sound at the same time.

This “Edge” version is an improvement on the original version they Kickstarted. It’s cheaper, lighter, with better audio and connections and the feedback they’ve gathered tells them that users really enjoy it. The Early Bird price for the Strap Edge is $99 although the retail will be $179. The Vest Edge is $299 ($499 retail). What’s interesting about that is that one other application they have is to use the Starp Edge as a pulsing metronome via a phone app. That’s the same price as the SoundBrenner Pulse wrist watch metronome and that has none of the haptic feedback facilities.

I’m very curious about it. Gaming is a no-brainer if you have the cash to burn but for music, it probably needs to be experienced to be appreciated.

More information

Woojer Edge Kickstarter Page.

Video

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1382889335/woojer-edge-immersive-experience-that-lets-you-feel-sound/description

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2 responses to “Woojer Edge: strap some haptic bass to your chest”

Johnny Onechop says:

16 August 2019 at 22:44

subpac tho?

Vic says:

2 July 2020 at 21:46

I just received the Woojer Edge.
Ehh? 2/10.
DAC inside is fine when it works, clean but I don’t expect this device to have a crazy AK or ESSPro chip.
Has potential after an app for customization crossover frequency for vibrations.
But this product has soooo many issues.

At a certain volume, it stops vibrating. 85/120 volume on my music player at low gain causes it to distort on sound and stop the vibrating. Only way to fix this is with a Power cycle.
Not great for many genres of music. Faster paced bass songs just feels like a massage machine. When I mean you need to find specific bass songs, you need like Michael Jackson’s Beat it to keep it on beat which is ridiculous as that song has a slow bass. Listen to Miracle Mile by Ollie Wride, the thing doesn’t even hit when the kick drum plays. It only plays a low rumble. Ridiculous.
They generated $1,916,253 for this project alone. They already have the framework for their code for the Woojer, just make the crossover frequencies customizable from an app or software you have via your computer.
The ONLY saving factor is that the potential after an app that allows vibrations specifically for certain frequencies.
At this point, the product is a gimmick and I figured it was a gimmick at the start but after trying this out, confirmed it.
IF they can have an app that controls the vibrations on specific frequencies, I will look the other way with bluetooth latency, the strap not even being secured properly, and the limitation on the DAC input.
Strap is abysmal for tightness. Why wouldn’t you add a metal clip with teeth like those old cloth belts that are EVERYWHERE and a standard amongst belts.
Bluetooth. Wow, APT-X, you play a song and it has a delay with what you hear and what you feel. What is the point?