Buhel SG05 Sunglasses That Double Up as a Headset

Kickstarter of the Week is our weekly look at the world of crowdfunding. We're on the lookout for the next Pebble smartwatch, and the next Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, though we're always happy to find quirky and cool projects to fund as well. We comb through sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo each week, to try and find the most interesting, exciting, or weirdest projects on the sites.

Of course, even if a project gets funded there is a good chance that it might not work out. But if you have the cash to spare, then we think you should check out the Buhel sunglasses with bone conduction headphones.

This is a cool project that launched on Monday, and has already hit its $80,000 (approximately Rs 50 lakh) target, with over a month to go. The Buhel is a wireless headset that doubles as a pair of sunglasses, so you're not dangling a strap around your neck, or worrying about wires. This sounds like a good alternative to Bluetooth headsets, which add another piece of obvious electronics to carry around - glasses blend in and don't stand out as much.

(Also see: The Best Bluetooth Headset For Any Budget)

The lenses are replaceable, and so you can swap them out for prescription lenses, if needed. With these glasses, you can make and receive calls (there's a mic in the bridge of the nose), use Siri or listen to music, but the coolest part is the bone conduction speaker. We've seen a few of these before, and the technology has been steadily improving in terms of audio quality. This kind of headset can be used in noisy conditions while still remaining audible, and it lets in the ambient sounds which is important if you're wearing headphones when driving around.

The only downside we can see to the device is that the talk time is pretty low - the creators are promising a 3 hour talk time (and 300 hours standby), which is not bad, but it means that you'll have to charge your headset at least once each day, and possibly more, depending on usage. You can see more details in the video below:

The Buhel is fully funded, but is accepting more pledges till March 14. If you pledge $175 (approximately Rs. 10,800), you'll get the sunglasses frame with the bluetooth headset, four different lenses (clear, red/ gold, smoke grey, polarised grey) and an accessory to fit in prescription lenses. The sunglasses will ship worldwide by July 2015, according to the creators.

To see more stories from the world of crowdfunding, click here.