Less than ten years ago in Germany, a radio station imagined a very peculiar bone-conduction pen prototype. The connected object slipped into the mouth between the teeth and allowed discreetly listening to football matches at work. Despite its success, this pen was merely a promotional item and therefore was never marketed.
Stimulating the Inner Ear Through the Teeth
On the occasion of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia—won by France—the German platform Radio.net (Radio.de) and the Havas Düsseldorf agency had conceived a rather interesting connected object: the Football Pen. The aim was to discreetly follow football matches during meetings, throughout the tournament.
Its operation was fairly simple. Connected wirelessly to a smartphone via Bluetooth, the pen—at least its upper part—was placed in the mouth between the teeth to transmit micro-vibrations. Then, the sound waves traveled through the teeth and the jaw bones, a signal short-circuiting the eardrum to stimulate the inner ear directly. As with today’s bone-conduction headsets, only the user of the Football Pen could hear the match commentary, without disturbing those nearby.
An Ultra-Limited Series
Despite its astonishing capabilities, the Football Pen never entered mass public production and therefore was not manufactured in large quantities. At the time, this device simply represented the core of a promotional operation for the German radio station. While the exact number of pens produced remains unknown, it seems that several hundred people received one: journalists, bloggers and other influencers on social networks but also listeners (contests). It was therefore a very limited series.
If the Football Pen was theoretically capable of streaming any audio feed from a smartphone, the use was software-limited. Indeed, the user had to download the official Radio.net platform app to activate and use the device. Once connected, the app locked the audio stream to exclusively broadcast stations that were partners and that transmitted the matches live.
For the radio, the sole purpose of the operation was to generate downloads of its own mobile app and boost its audience during the World Cup. Allowing the listening of other platforms—such as Spotify or YouTube—would have deprived the campaign of all marketing value. Moreover, the small number of units also stems from the chosen strategy. The goal wasn’t for everyone to own the pen, but for everyone to talk about it.
No Consumer Bone-Conduction Pen
In fact, the Football Pen housed a remarkably advanced technology. It was not merely a gadget. The pen nevertheless contained Bluetooth chips, rechargeable batteries, and piezoelectric transducers for bone conduction. Therefore, it seems logical that the German radio did not mass-produce this object, as it would have entailed astronomical costs for a short-lived campaign. Indeed, the operation lasted only a month—the duration of the World Cup.
What is truly curious in this story lies elsewhere. Since 2018, no company has revived the concept although tens of thousands would have liked to acquire a Football Pen. Today there is therefore no consumer bone-conduction pen on the market. On the market, headphones, earphones and even glasses integrating this technology are available and not locked to a particular system. Yet, it must be admitted that the Football Pen possessed a certain charm.
Source : Football Pen (dandad.org)
Article prepared with the help of AI · Our method
