Vio Headphones

Vio Headphones Design and development of in-ear headphones Vio is a company that provides professional audio services for live monitoring. It is committed to understanding the requirements of each client in order to advise them considering their needs. It has a team of professionals made up of electronic technicians and speech therapists oriented, for over 12 years, to the service of professional audio. Design Decisions Since these are highly customized products with manual production, the possibilities of scaling up production seemed distant. From this analysis, the idea emerged 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 on 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 properly size the product to fit different types of ears, as in-ear headphones are inserted into the ear canal to achieve the correct isolation. For this, molds of the ear 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 indicated production process was not easy, as it required a lot of precision, and the proposed scale of production moved us away from the possibility of thinking about injection molding for plastic. After several material tests, we decided to opt for a photopolymerizable methyl methacrylate that hardens under ultraviolet light in light ovens. The molding was developed in transparent silicone rubber that allowed the cast material to be exposed to light after pouring. Presentation The product is delivered in a case designed to carry everywhere and protect the headphones. It is made of customized black anodized aluminum with the user's name laser engraved on the lid.