Bose, an electronics marker along with Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, US turned music fans into fans of its new sunglasses by bringing spatial audio to this year’s Coachella. BOSE Frames, or audio-pairable sunglasses, provide what’s being called the first audio augmented reality (AR) experience for festival goers were selling the $200 Frames at merchandise tents around the fairgrounds, and the frames can also be found on the Bose official website too.

The special AR experience of the frames includes a Bluetooth connection and with built-in miniature boss speakers for an immersive audio experience. Festival attendees had to pair their Bose Frames with the Coachella app, the Frames uses a smartphone’s accelerometer and other technology to let users interact with their surroundings. The attendees who had the Frames were also able to get access to exclusive real-time notifications and audio updates like the performance update of their favorite artist, without having to take their eyes off the Frames to look around or even better, they didn’t even have to look down at their phones regularly for important updates. 

In addition, since the speakers on the Frames don’t go directly into the ear, wearers were also able to hear both music and information while also not getting blocked out of their own surroundings. The attendees were given a chance to spend more time looking up and seeing what’s going on around them, while accessing information— a useful technology for people in a crowded place like a music festival without having them look at their smartphone.

With its AR equipped Frames, Bose showcased how brands could use the technology to reach their customers without being too intrusive in their personal space which is quite a welcoming step.