On October 23, Doppler Labs founder Noah Kraft got a Facebook notification. One of those "On This Day" pop-ups, resurfacing a post from exactly two years ago, when Kraft had appeared on CNBC to make the case for his company. "We want to put a computer, speaker, and mic in everyone's ear," Kraft said during the interview. "We have very lofty visions of the future, everything from real-time translation to personal assistants." Because on October 23, Kraft was nine days away from shutting down Doppler Labs for good.

Earlier this month, the internet got in a froth about Apple's decision to drop the 3.5mm analogue audio jack from the new iPhone. Users took to Twitter to vent their outrage, while tech analysts, such as Paul Erickson at IHS Technology, suggested that the removal was money-driven: "It should be noted that wireless models are the highest revenue-generating products within the headphone market," he told the Financial Times. Further disapproval was directed at Apple's replacement for wired earphones, the AirPod, essentially a wireless earphone and microphone – "like a tampon without a string" according to the Guardian – while the writers of US late-night talkshow Conan created a satirical Apple ad featuring the devices plopping from users' ears to floor and being eaten by their pet dogs. Yet, as Chris Saad, head of product at Uber, has pointed out in a post on Medium, Apple did more than launch some earbuds: "They launched a wireless microphone as well." By which he means the day when we converse all day long with a virtual assistant similar to the one voiced by Scarlett Johansson in Her is drawing closer.

YOU heard it here first. When it comes to navigating information, headphones may be about to put screens in the shade. A handful of start-ups are creating devices which promise to transform not only how you hear the world, but also the way you interface with the gadgets in your life. Here One, launched this week by New York firm Doppler Labs, is one example. Looking like a pair of outsized earplugs, it samples the audio environment and plays back an augmented version. Using a smartphone, users can tweak the levels of individual sounds – adjusting the bass and treble at a concert, for example – or silence intrusive noises such as traffic and wailing infants.