UCLEAR HBC120 TV Spot & Demo Video

Here’s a goofy (and we mean that in a good way)  video that helps communicate the idea of the noise suppression technology that’s built into every UCLEAR helmet communicator. Give it a look.

UCLEAR HBC 120 Video

Comprehensive HBC100 Review from Cyclefish.com

We certainly enjoy hearing good things about our products, but this  review from Cyclefish.com is great because they really put the HBC100 through its paces and provide a full test of all the product features and functions.

http://www.cyclefish.com/ProductReviews/blog/1824/

The conclusion of the review says it all: “Overall, I was VERY impressed with the HBC 100 and would recommend this as THE system to buy for anyone in the market for a Bluetooth helmet communication system. ”

If you’re considering the HBC100, give this a read to get a good overall understanding of the how it performs in the real world.

Use your HBC Controller with Two Helmets

Here’s a recent question that came up that we thought would be of interest to all of you out there:

Q: I would like to use the UCLEAR system on multiple helmets, ski, bike, and motorcycle. Which accessories would I need to purchase? Thank you.

A. Yes, you can use one UCLEAR device on multiple helmets. Each of our products use the exact same control unit. The differences are the hardware to mount the controller to different kinds of helmets and the speakers. The HBC100 and HBC120 use the exact same integrated speaker/microphone unit. The HBC130 uses a completely different in-ear set-up.

If you want to use an HBC100 or 120 with another motorcycle, snowmobile or ski/snowboard helmet simply purchase a UAP100 Universal Accessory Kit. This has another set of integrated speaker/microphones and mounting brackets you can install in a second helmet.

If bicycling is one of your sports, buy an HBC130 because it has the special in-ear speakers you’ll need for a cycling helmet. Then buy the UAP100 Universal Accessory Kit to use your HBC130 control unit with a motorcycle, snowmobile, or ski/snowboard helmet.

Once the speakers and mounting brackets are installed, it’s a matter of seconds to switch your control unit between helmets.

We do not currently offer extra cycling speaker/microphones, but you can simply use the extra Velcro mounting pads to use the HBC130 in multiple bike helmets. If you ride on the road and trail, it’s pretty simple to switch between two helmets.

Let us know if you have any questions.

There’s An App for That!

Our HBC100 is amazingly easy to install in your helmet and to operate. That’s just not the opinion of all of us here at UCLEAR. It’s a common remark of all the reviews of our products. Even so, if you’ve never installed one before, it would be nice to get a little visual education. Well, all you have to do is ask!

If you own an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, you can download the free UCLEAR HBC100 app from the Apple Store to learn all about the features and functions of all the HBC100 series devices.

The simple to use app has 17 different options to choose from to cover all your questions about the HBC100.  Here is everything you can choose from the main menu:

-       What’s in the Box?

-       Charging Your HBC100

-       Installing Your HBC100

-       Pairing Your HBC100 with Your Phone

-       Switching Your HBC100 On/Off

-       3-Way Calling

-       Last Number Redial

-       Answer an Incoming Call

-       Reject/End Incoming Call

-       Voice Dial

-       Music Streaming – Pairing with your Music Player

-       Music Streaming – Play/Stop

-       Music Streaming – Fast Forward

-       Music Streaming – Back Track

-       Intercom – Pairing with Another HBC Unit

-       Intercom – Initiate/Terminate Conversation

-       Conversation Demo at 100 MPH

The app was designed for the HBC100, but almost all the information applies to the HBC120 and HBC130.

Here’s a simple (and FREE) way to get the most from your UCLEAR helmet communicator. If you download and install the app, let us know what you think. Post your comments here. Thanks!

About the term “noise reduction”

One of the most frequent questions we get is about the “noise reduction” technology used in our HBC helmet communicators. Just to straighten things out, our version of noise reduction has nothing to do with the speakers, but everything to do with our boom-less microphone.

Noise reduction headphone companies, like Bose,  have done an outstanding job educating people about the noise reduction properties of their stereo headphones. The idea with these products is to cancel out the outside noise so you can hear the music. This type of technology actively erases lower-frequency sound waves by generating sound waves that mimic the incoming noise and create them 180 degrees out of phase with the incoming noise. The end result is the ability to listen to music (or voice communication) without the background sounds.

We’ve played with this idea, but on a motorcycle, bicycle or on the ski slopes killing the noise can be downright dangerous. For now, we’ve chosen to not use this type of technology in our products.

So what do we mean when we say “noise reduction?” We’re talking about the ability to speak in a normal voice and be heard by the person on the other end of a phone call or your intercom without having to yell or be interrupted by background noise. The UCLEAR HBC100 series communicators have microphones mounted on the speakers that beam a virtual shield around the user’s mouth and capture his or her voice.

UCLEAR uses a patented digital microphone array technology developed by BITWave Global for military application. Here’s how it works:

A patented “Adaptive-Beam Forming” algorithm is used to optimize the Signal-to-Noise Ration of the user’s voice, as well as track and capture the voice while suppressing any outside noise. This is the heart of the UCLEAR advantage since this allows our communicators to be created without a boom microphone.

A second stage of the process is “Adaptive Interference-Cancellation” which suppresses environment noise. Environment noise contains directional information and this array is able to identify the undesired sound and cancel it. At the end of this stage, the array has identified the user’s voice and separated it from any outside interference using the directional cues and other audio information collected from the logarithmically spaced microphone array built into the speakers.

The third stage of signal processing process identifies environmental noise types that are diffused and lack directional information and dynamically suppresses them. The processed voice signal is output after final signal recovery and speech enhancement. All of these operations happen quickly using a mathematically optimized algorithm that suppresses the natural noises from human speech.

Together, all these technologies produce a singular, astonishing level of noise suppression and interference cancellation. To give you an idea of how well this works, we demonstrate this by letting a tester try on a helmet with an HBC100 installed, pair it with their phone and let them make a call. While they’re talking, we’ll fire up a leaf blower and direct into their helmet. We know it sounds crazy, but the person on the other end is never aware that all this wackiness is taking place.

If you ride a motorcycle, ride a bike, snowmobile, ski or snowboard and like to keep in touch while you’re on the go, the HBC100 series communicators are really worthwhile tools to investigate.