Mercedes forced outside the box in search for next big thing

The interior of a Mercedes-Benz AG CLA 45 AMG is seen at the Blackberry Ltd. QNX headquarters in Ottawa, Ontarion, Canada, on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. BlackBerry Ltd. and Canada are opening a research center for self-driving cars that raises the possibility of government backing for the former smartphone maker's automotive software unit. Photographer: Chris Roussakis/Bloomberg

The co-founder of Noveto Systems Ltd had five minutes to impress some 1,000 auto executives, venture capitalists and fellow entrepreneurs with his startup’s novel audio system. At stake, a potential supply deal with Mercedes-Benz. 

After a tentative beginning, Tomer Shani asked the crowd in Stuttgart, Germany, to “imagine a world without headphones and wires,” where speakers beam sound directly to a listener’s ears, imperceptible to others close by. He then invited everyone to test it first-hand in a Mercedes S-Class sedan in a corner of the exhibition hall.