Speaker-maker Bose purchased an audio-based travel app called Detour to incorporate its technology into Bose’s new AR platform.
The unlikely acquisition is the end of a strange journey for Detour — and a part of Bose’s effort to transform itself into an ‘audio AR’ company.
A roundabout path to success for Detour
Detour started as a walking tour app self-funded by Groupon-founder and walking enthusiast Andrew Mason. But, while working on Detour, Mason discovered a better product — an audio tool that lets users alter an original sound file by editing the transcription.
Realizing the value of the new idea, Mason pulled a claaassic pivot — spinning off a new company called Descript, raising a quick $5m from Andreessen Horowitz, and poaching all of his engineers for the project.
With brighter skies on the horizon, Mason abandoned Detour — which was already performing poorly in the app store. So, you might be wondering — why is Bose interested in the leftovers of an unsuccessful travel app?
One techie’s trash is another techie’s treasure
Specifically, Bose wants to use Detour’s location-based audio experiences as an “audible layer of information” in its wearable — part of their goal to re-create historic events at landmarks as you walk past them.
Alongside the debut of its AR-glasses, Bose announced their goal to create “a world where everything you see is […] more meaningful — because of what you hear.”
Meanwhile, the only thing Detour’s hearing is the meditative drum of those dimes rollin’ in.