Shiftall Mutalk Microphone Offers Head-Mounted Voice Suppression

Gaming inspires a lot of innovation, and VR technology is seemingly at the head of it all. However, while we’ve got loads of options for visual immersion, the same isn’t totally true for audio — and especially not microphones. Not until now, anyway. That’s because the crew at Shiftall have created a new head-mountable microphone that seems to suit this modern need nicely. It’s called the Mutalk, and while it most certainly looks like a VR mouthpiece, it’s designed to suit a variety of needs.

Personal Voice Suppression with VR Mouthpiece Design

There was a time not so long ago when VR was barely counted as a gimmick. Now, multiple companies are putting out their own rigs and accessories. However, head-mounted displays and headphones often don’t account for voice communications. Even if a microphone is part of a player’s setup, it’s often exposed to the environment, picking up unwanted noise and other details.

That’s where the Shiftall Mutalk comes in. The device is a “voice suppression” microphone — essentially a sound isolation box with a built-in mic. It’s designed to prevent those around you from hearing what you’re saying into it while also preventing outside noise from being recorded. This should make it an effective tool for online calls containing personal or sensitive information, both in public and at home.

However, the Mutalk also has a fairly striking head-mount option. In this configuration, it can be used hands-free for gaming, including VR. In fact, just about anyone looking at it would assume it was a VR mouthpiece. There’s no doubt the designers took inspiration from modern HMDs.

With that said, this is no VR mouthpiece. It is not designed to track lip movement or recognize speech. Instead, it’s an enclosed microphone with several quality of life features. Among them, most importantly, are removable and washable mouth pads and moisture-absorbing cushions. For the full tech specs, be sure to check out the Mutalk page on the Shiftall website. The company is aiming to release the Mutalk sometime later this year.