Vio Headphones

Vio Headphones

Design and development of in-ear headphones

Vio is a company that provides professional audio services for live monitoring. Its commitment is to understand the requirements of each client to be able to advise them considering their needs. It has a team of professionals made up of electronic technicians and audiologists who have been dedicated, for over 12 years, to the service of professional audio.

Design decisions

Since these are highly customized products made by hand, the possibilities for scaling production seemed distant. From this analysis came the idea to create a new line of standard in-ear headphones that maintained the audio quality the company had been working on but could be produced at a larger scale.

As the perceived quality of the product was good, it was decided to continue working with the image of a customized product that reflected the quality of the components that make up the product.

The first challenge was to correctly size the product so that it fit different types of ears, as in-ear headphones are inserted into the auditory canal to achieve proper isolation. For this, molds of the auditory canals of musicians of different genres and ages were made, and through 3D printing, prototypes of different sizes and characteristics were tested to determine which fit best in most cases.

Production processes

The search for the right production process was not simple, as it needed to be very precise while the planned production scale moved us away from the possibility of thinking about injection molding for plastic. After several material tests, we decided to opt for a photopolymerizable methacrylate that solidifies under ultraviolet light in light ovens. The molds were developed in transparent silicone rubber that allowed the material to be cast and then exposed to light.

Presentation

The product is delivered in a case designed to be carried everywhere and to protect the headphones. It is made of custom black anodized aluminum with the user's name laser-engraved on the lid.