As scientists learn more about the potential effects of sound on humans, we may see more health tech devices using audible and inaudible sound for purposes hitherto unforeseen. It’s generally accepted that humans hear sound in the range of 20 to 20,000 Hz. Other species are not so limited. Elephants can tones as low as 14-16 Hz and whales in water detect 7Hz tones. Some dolphins and bats can hear as high as 100 kHz.  We’ve written in the past about assisted hearing devices and the Kokoon’s use of noise cancellation, white noise, and soothing sounds to help with sleep. Sensate uses low-frequency sound to relieve stress.

Sound Oasis recently introduced the BST-400 Stereo Bluetooth Sleep Sound Therapy System. The BST-400’s rather longish name explains a lot, but the device purports to do more for human health and rest with sound than even its name implies. On the simplest level, the BST-400 is a Bluetooth speaker system with two 10-watt speakers and a subwoofer. You can stream audio from connected devices as you would expect, but there are also four included sound apps that allow you to customize your sound for specific purposes, including blocking tinnitus, white noise for general sound cancellation, soothing sounds for babies, and nature sounds. The system has a micro SD memory card slot and comes with a card pre-loaded with 10 sounds including white noise, brown noise, gentle surf, the human heartbeat, ocean surf, steady rain, stream, summer night, thunder and rain, and woodland sounds. “Brown noise” is a sound that occurs by mixing white noise with timed intervals in a seemingly random pattern produced by Brownian motion, which is the random movement of particles in a liquid. The point is there are plenty of sound variations included with the Sound Oasis device and you can try the various types to discover which help you sleep, relax, or even concentrate.

The BST-400 has an aluminum case and runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Sound Oasis makes the promise that with the BST-400 you can “lull yourself into a deeper, more restful sleep.”  That sure sounds good to me.