Accidental Harmony: Breathing in Sync

AUT VENTURES | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGOĀ / DRUGS

When you think about the local music scene, your mind probably jumps straight to packed gigs on Karangahape Road, Spotify wrapped stats, or the latest releases shaping Aotearoa’s soundscape. You probably don’t picture a nasal congestion device.

But sometimes, the way we connect to sound happens completely by accident, especially when it collides with everyday innovation.

Enter Goodair® Nosebuds. Born from AUT research led by Dr. David White, this spinout device wasn’t designed to win any music awards. Designed to sit just inside the nose, it subtly alters airflow to create a gentle, therapeutic vibration that clears congestion and helps you breathe easier. Its purpose is entirely practical. It has absolutely nothing to do with music.

Or so the creators thought.

For Raymond Ando, former AUT Startup Club president and a Bachelor of Business graduate, the experience of wearing Nosebuds went slightly off-script. He often uses them while driving, turning his daily commute into an opportunity to complete the recommended 20-minute session.

Like most of us, he usually has music playing in the car and it was during these drives that he began to notice an unexpected side effect.

“With music playing and the Nosebuds creating a gentle hum with each breath, I noticed I’d start humming along without even realising it,” Raymond explains. “It just felt instinctive.”

What makes Raymond’s experience so unique is how it highlights the physicality of our connection to music. We don’t just listen, we tap our steering wheels, nod our heads, and hum along. In this case, a piece of health tech designed purely for breathing support unexpectedly amplified that natural instinct.

This kind of unexpected crossover is what makes the local innovation scene so exciting. Technology rarely exists in a vacuum, a product might be designed in a lab for a specific purpose, but it often finds its true meaning in the real world, shaped by the unexpected and human ways people actually use it.

At its core, that’s what innovation is all about: putting an idea out into the world and discovering impacts you never anticipated. And if you’ve got a research project or business idea of your own that you want to bring into the real world, AUT Ventures is here to help you discover exactly where it could go.