Ethan Castro, an audio engineer born hard of hearing, expands the limits of his hearing by touching speakers to feel their vibrations and directly connect to music.
This habit led him to co-found Edge Sound Research, a startup that’s taking experiential audio to a mass market. Experiential audio works by transferring audio inputs into vibrations that are felt throughout the body.
Earlier this year, Castro, along with co-founder and CEO Valtteri Salomaki, left their home base of Riverside, Calif., to participate in the inaugural Minnesota Twins Accelerator by Techstars. The pair said the three-month program gave them an opportunity to understand nuances of the business, such as working with audio in a professional sports stadium.
The company’s Resonx prototype is now being implemented at venues around the Twin Cities, including in a sound lounge at Target Field. The lounge consists of wooden benches that each have a Resonx module underneath. Sound inputs from the PA system and microphone system are all fed through the seats, allowing for an immersive experience no matter where the viewer is seated.
“You’re getting all of the music that’s playing from the organ, all the atmospheric stuff, but you’re also getting the mics at home plate,” Salomaki said. “So you pop up at the crack of the bat.”
Before Edge Sound's products are integrated into consumer products, such as office chairs designed for video gamers, it’s focusing on raising brand awareness through more sports venues, movie theaters and live event venues, Salomaki said.
“The reality of introducing anything new is it requires education,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how I’m telling you, ‘This is the best thing you can ever have at home,’ unless you have experienced that before.”
In addition to the fan experience at Target Field, Edge has put its technology in the hands of 50 individuals, including Grammy award winning producers, Twitch streamers and DJs. The final feedback they hear from this group will inform their final tweaks before units are delivered in the fall.
Edge is also hoping to fuel this deployment by raising a $4 million seed round by mid-June.
Stephanie Rich, head of platform at Minneapolis-based Bread & Butter Ventures and an adviser to Edge Sound Research, said the company has a real chance to change how people engage with entertainment.
