At Soundly, we’ve had a number of users reach out with questions about how to enjoy music with hearing loss or how to prevent noise-induced hearing loss for music enthusiasts. That’s why we were excited to sit down with Luigi Cosi, CEO of Oikla. In this short interview, you’ll learn more about this exciting new technology that can allow users to customize their music experience based on their hearing profile.
1. Can you share the inspiration behind Oikla and what motivated you to create this technology?
The inspiration behind Oikla came from my personal experience and deep passion for music. As a DJ and music producer, music has always been an integral part of my life. However, this passion led to tinnitus, a condition caused by prolonged exposure to loud sounds, making me acutely aware of the risks of hearing loss.
While studying at SAE London, I realized during a lecture on equal loudness contours that there was no technology that balanced the thrill of high-volume listening with the safety needed to prevent hearing damage. Traditional solutions focused only on lowering volume, which doesn’t address why people are drawn to louder sound—because it feels more alive, rich, and immersive. I wanted to create a technology that could recreate this experience at safer volumes, allowing listeners to enjoy music fully without compromising their hearing health.
With this understanding, I developed a prototype that enhanced sound while preserving safe listening levels. The positive feedback from peers and industry professionals encouraged me to build a team and secure funding to bring Oikla to life. Today, Grammy Award-winning artists and engineers use and endorse our technology, recognizing its ability to provide an engaging audio experience while protecting hearing health. This support fuels my passion to innovate further and make safe, high-quality listening accessible to everyone.
2. Today many of us use headphones on a daily basis, sometimes for hours each day. Most of us can relate to the urge to increase the volume when we hear a song that we like. What are your thoughts about safe listening levels when it comes to music?
Safe listening is about balancing the joy of sound—not only music—with the need to protect our hearing. It's natural to want to turn up the volume when we hear something that resonates emotionally, as louder sound enhances our perception and makes the experience feel more immersive and exciting. However, listening at high volumes over extended periods can cause irreversible hearing damage.
At Oikla, we recognize that simply lowering the volume isn't enough. Instead, we provide a solution that allows listeners to experience all the excitement and emotional engagement of loud sounds—not only music—at safer levels. Think of it like using a sweetener in place of sugar: you get the same sweet taste without the harmful effects of excess sugar. Our technology mimics the psychoacoustic effects of high volume, enabling listeners to enjoy the full spectrum of sound without the risk of hearing damage.
Ultimately, we believe safe listening shouldn't mean compromising on the quality of the experience. By offering technology that feels just as dynamic and engaging as high-volume listening, we aim to encourage healthier habits and protect hearing for the long term.
3. How can Oikla customize a user's music experience based on the listener's unique hearing profile? Could you explain the technology behind it?
Oikla’s technology personalizes the listening experience by adapting sound to each user’s unique hearing profile. We do this using advanced audio processing and smart technology that understands how different people hear sound.
At the heart of our technology is a method that adjusts audio based on the difference between how a user actually hears sound and how they would like it to sound. By understanding the listener’s current perception of sound and comparing it to how it would be perceived if the volume were increased, our system adjusts the audio frequencies to make the brain think the sound is fuller and richer—without actually raising the volume to unsafe levels.
To create this customized experience, we use AI to quickly map each user’s unique equal loudness contours (ELC). Normally, creating an accurate ELC would require testing many different frequencies, but our AI learns from general hearing models and can predict a user’s unique hearing profile by testing only a few key sounds. This profile is then used by our system to modify the audio in real-time, adjusting it based on the type of sound, the headphones being used, the listening volume, and the user's specific hearing needs.
This approach allows us to enhance the parts of the sound spectrum that a listener might not hear well, while keeping the overall sound balanced and natural. It's like having a personal audio engineer who constantly fine-tunes the sound, ensuring the best, richest, and safest listening experience possible.
4. What feedback have you received from early users, and how has it influenced the development of Oikla?
Early feedback has been crucial in shaping Oikla’s development. During my time at university, I was a passionate student trying to find a solution to my problem—how to achieve the experience of listening louder without actually increasing the volume. I was fortunate enough to have access to both experienced audio lecturers and future Grammy Award winners. Their insights were invaluable, and many of them had jaw-dropping reactions to the early technology, often asking, "Why isn't this already on the market?" They recognized that this concept filled a critical gap in the audio industry, providing a new standard for immersive listening with hearing protection.
The only consistent piece of feedback was the demand for greater personalization. Users wanted the technology to be tailored not just for sound enhancement, but also to match their unique hearing profiles and listening habits. In response, we've focused on creating more personalized audio experiences, using machine learning to learn each listener’s behavior, suggest optimal times for breaks, and predict how different music genres might impact hearing over time.
This feedback continues to drive us as we refine our technology, ensuring that every listener enjoys a uniquely personalized and protected audio experience.
5. Where are you in the development phase of the technology, and when might users expect to have access to the technology or features?
We are at an exciting stage in our development journey. After launching SHAPE, which provided critical feedback from audio professionals, we are preparing to release our full-fledged product by the end of the year, initially targeting our professional user base to ensure it meets their high standards. Our launch will be in partnership with Decibel X, the world's most widely used sound level metering app, helping us reach a large professional audience.
In addition, we are partnering with Sonical to integrate our technology into innovative hardware, such as the upcoming Remora PRO device, which is set to launch in October. Remora PRO is a groundbreaking product that transforms any headphones into "app-enabled" audio solutions, providing a unique wireless platform for extending personal audio options in ways that were not possible before. With its high-performance AI and DSP capabilities, it supports advanced audio processing directly on the device, which previously required a connected smartphone or tablet.
By integrating OIKLA's Perception technology, Remora PRO will enhance sound quality and user well-being in any listening environment. Our Perception technology seamlessly combines two powerful features: maintaining a sense of loudness and immersion while keeping listening levels safe. This means users can enjoy their favorite sounds without the risk of hearing damage. The technology continuously monitors listening levels, alerts users, and even limits audio when safe thresholds are exceeded, ensuring protection against hearing damage at all times.
Looking ahead, we’re advancing our AI capabilities to deliver even more personalized and safer audio experiences. Our technology will learn from each person’s listening habits to offer personalized tips and further reduce the risk of hearing damage. These new features are expected to be available within the next 6 to 12 months, benefiting both professionals and everyday users.
The partnership with Sonical allows us to combine cutting-edge technology with a commitment to user well-being. With the launch of Perception for Remora PRO, we are offering users an unparalleled fusion of exceptional audio performance and advanced hearing protection capabilities. This powerful approach leverages the latest ISO standards to fine-tune loudness and enhance spatial audio cues, providing an engaging and realistic listening experience without increasing the risk to hearing.
6. How do you see Oikla evolving in the next few years, especially in terms of technology and user experience?
In the coming years, we see Oikla becoming a global standard in audio technology, seamlessly integrated across the entire audio industry. Our goal is to make our technology an invisible yet essential part of every audio experience, ensuring optimized sound quality and hearing protection no matter the device, platform, or environment.
We want our technology to be present everywhere, enabling safer and more consistent listening experiences. Ultimately, Oikla’s solutions will become the foundation of how audio content is produced and consumed, allowing users to enjoy superior, safer listening without even realizing the technology is there.
7. Is there anything else you would like to share?
At Oikla, we're driven by a mission to make great sound experiences safe and accessible for everyone, everywhere. We believe audio should be a seamless, integral part of life, enjoyed without the risk of hearing damage. Our journey started from a personal need and has evolved into a vision of setting a new global standard in audio technology. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of what's possible, using AI and advanced audio techniques to enhance listening experiences while protecting hearing health.
At Oikla, we believe in a different approach—one that prioritizes prevention over cure. Instead of waiting until the damage is done, we aim to protect and nurture the delicate beauty of hearing from the start. We reject the notion of fixing what’s broken after the fact and choose instead to create a world where listening is always safe, where the joy of sound doesn’t come with a hidden cost. Our vision is not just to solve a problem but to shape a future where hearing health is cherished and preserved, where music can be a source of pure joy, untarnished by the risks of harm.
We invite everyone to join us on this journey to elevate audio experiences, protect hearing, and make exceptional sound the standard for all.
