The story goes that when the revolutionary Sony Walkman was first released in 1979, Sony’s then-chairman requested the device come with two headphone jacks. The chairman was apparently unable to conceive of the possibility that anyone would want to seal themselves off from the world with a pair of headphones.

As A Journal of Musical Things notes, the two-jack Walkman lasted exactly one generation. Having underestimated humanity’s isolationist tendencies, Sony resigned to letting everyone walk around like lone, anti-social zombies, just the way we consumers like it.

But the tide of change may be coming. After all, there’s never been more of a focus on being “social” than now, and hey, doesn’t everybody enjoy a good old silent disco when they’re at a festival? You don’t have to answer that.

What you really should do, however, is check out the latest gadget from Wearhaus, the Wearhaus Arc. Described by the company as “social headphones,” they’re designed to wirelessly synchronise multiple headphones using Bluetooth technology, allowing wearers to share their music with others nearby.

As ITProPortal reports, the headphones are accompanied by a smartphone app and can be used to tune in to whatever someone else nearby is listening to, or alternatively, to share and broadcast your own playlist to your friends.

The Wearhaus Arc even has a built-in LED light designed to help wearers “express yourself through colour”. So if one of your fellow Wearhaus Arc wearers happens to be strolling by and sees that your tunes have you in a particularly good mood, they can sync up and share the good vibes.

Best of all, the app isn’t just for broadcasting or finding users and playlists. It also features a chat service, which allows you to communicate with other wearers without having to put the headphones down or scream over the music in your ears.

Getting down to brass tacks, the Wearhaus Arc headphones are user friendly, with smartphone-like controls that allow wearers to tap (on the outside of the headphone shell) to play or pause, double tap to share, tap and hold to sync, swipe left or right to change song, and swipe up or down to control volume.

As for just how far away you can wander before your ‘Call Me Maybe’ party cuts out, the headphones have a range of 65 feet indoors and 100 feet outdoors. The first batch is expected to ship in January 2015.

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