Five years ago, Bose introduced a wonderful product — Sleepbuds. The idea behind it was simple — instead of channelling music, it produced masking sounds to reduce disturbances and help people get a better night’s sleep. It was discontinued but in 2020 another version arrived. And that too didn’t make the cut among users.
Why give up on such a great concept? N.B. Patil, Charles Taylor and Brian Mulcahey — three former Bose employees — acquired the Sleepbuds trademark from Bose and have come up with Ozlo Sleepbuds, which is part of a 30-day Kickstarter campaign. The earbuds come with features that include noise masking, audio streaming via Bluetooth, and sensors that can detect when you’ve fallen asleep.
The idea behind Ozlo Sleep is to develop and manufacture “an ecosystem of best-in-class sleep products, including the Ozlo Sleepbuds”. The company says it has gathered some of the world’s best mechanical, electrical, firmware, manufacturing, audio, design and software engineers, all passionate about good sleep.
Patil, the CEO of Ozlo Sleep, joined Bose as a firmware engineer in 2000 and climbed the ranks quickly. During his tenure, he was responsible for bringing numerous first-to-market products to fruition, including the first Bluetooth stereo headphones, Bose Connect App, the Bose Frames, with over 38 granted patents and more pending. Taylor is the chief product officer and was the former head of new business licensing at Bose. Mulcahey is the chief operating officer and is the former managing director of Bose Ventures and head of corporate development and incubation.