Cerevo and Interphenom invent connected listening device, launch Kickstarter campaign

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See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based hardware startup Cerevo announced today that it has co-developed a new product called Listnr as a first effort from a joint project with new startup Interphenom. This follows their recent introduction of Snow-1 snowboard bindings from their smart sports gear series XON.

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Cerevo has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Listnr, and is exhibiting it at 2015 International CES underway in Las Vegas.

Listnr is a cloud-based listening device equipped with a microphone and Internet connectivity, which sends notifications to smartphones or other connected devices according to certain sound patterns such as an infant’s cry, as well as giving users control over Philips Hue connected light bulbs by the snap of a finger.

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Listnr uses a sound and voice-based emotion recognition engine invented by Panasonic. Cerevo and Interphenom will offer an API so that third-party developers can develop new services or products integrating with the listening device.

The Interphenom project

The Interphenom project was started by a concept by Rie Ehara illustrating a communication device using sounds following her discussions with Cerevo and hardware startup incubation initiative ABBALab, both of which reside in Tokyo’s notable hardware incubation lab DMM.make Akiba.

Panasonic’s R&D department had been exploring ways to commercialize the technology of the voice-based emotion recognition engine, and started developing a prototype with Cerevo in the summer of 2014. Because of the high affinity between the concept and the Listnr concept, Cerevo proposed to Ehara that she collaborate on a new product.

The team subsequently kicked off full-scale development after winning the ABBALab Scholarship program. This enclosure was designed by UK-based Japanese product designer Satoshi Yanagisawa, who is famous for having designed the portable power generator Cyclus as well as the futuristic smart power strip Otto.

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After being incorporated in the end of January, Interphenom is expected to fundraise from ABBALab.