The author reviews the product Muzo, a device that claims to cancel noise and create a "secrecy bubble" for private conversations. The author initially thought the product was impossible and a scam, but since it raised over $2.4 million on Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, they decided to test it. The author examines the product's technology and finds that it's not capable of active noise cancellation, but rather uses an actuator to vibrate a surface, creating sound. The author tests the device and finds that it doesn't effectively reduce noise, and in some cases, even increases it. They conclude that the product's advertising is misleading and that it's not possible for a device to create a "secrecy bubble" or cancel noise in a room. The author offers to retest the device if the manufacturer claims it's defective, but remains skeptical of its capabilities.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. The product Muzo claims to cancel noise and create a "secrecy bubble" around the user.
2. Muzo raised over $530,000 on Kickstarter and over $1.8 million on IndieGoGo.
3. The total amount raised by Muzo is over $2.4 million.
4. Muzo has been shipping products to customers since September.
5. The product uses an actuator to vibrate a surface, turning it into a speaker.
6. The product has different modes, including "Serenity Mode" and "Secret Mode".
7. The product claims to protect the user's speech privacy even in public.
8. The product uses a neo-magnetic system and "billion sound technology".
9. The product can be connected to a phone via Bluetooth and used as a speaker.
10. The product is not effective in canceling noise in a room.
11. The product is not effective in creating a "secrecy bubble" around the user.
12. The product's noise-cancellation technology does not work as claimed.
13. The product is only effective in reducing noise to some extent in a controlled environment.
14. The product's sensor measures surface vibration and creates counter-waves to cancel it.
15. The product's website claims it can create a "personal zone of silence".
16. The product is not effective in blocking noise by canceling door vibration.
17. The product's different modes, including "Privacy Mode" and "Sleep Mode", do not work as claimed.
18. The product only drowns unwanted noise in wanted noise, like any other speaker.
19. The product does not seem to be able to cancel surface vibration.
20. The product's marketing video may have misled backers into thinking it does active noise-cancelling.