Check out this New HEARING Technology - It's Really Cool

[liberalpragmatist]

I find this really fascinating. I posted this yesterday in the Lounge and it sank without a trace. So I retitled it and did a new thread on the subject.

I want some of these!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4706923.stm

Call for 'designer' hearing aids

Geoff Adams-Spink
BBC News website disability affairs correspondent

The UK's largest charity for deaf people and a design magazine are launching an exhibition of futuristic hearing aids to make them more popular.

The show, called Hearwear, opens at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London this week.

A variety of designs will be on display, ranging from stylish devices to enhance hearing to products that can be used by anyone to control sound.

The idea is to persuade people that hearwear can be as appealing as specs.

***


Stylish jewellery or hearing aid? This new design manages to be both


This device - by Tangerine - allows the user to define their field of hearing - close range in a noisy bar or zoom when listening for something in the distance.


Designed by Priestman Goode, the Decibel protects the user's ears in noisy environments while allowing certain sounds to get through - for example, a mobile phone, laptop or MP3 player.


IDEO came up with the idea of linking a microphone to a conductive strip running around the edge of a table in a bar. Customers then buy inexpensive ear pieces from the bar so that they can converse in comfort.


The Surround Sound - created by the Industrial Facility - hijacks the popularity of glasses and incorporates hearing technology into the arms. The wearer will only hear sounds from their direction of view.


The thinking behind the Soundspace - designed by The Alloy - is to remove the need for a ear mould. It uses a unique mechanism to fit the product inside the ear. It incorporates sound amplification and connectivity to other devices.


Based on the notion that goldfish have a ten second memory, this ear piece - created by Human Beans - constantly records ten seconds of sound. To activate the replay the wearer just waves their hand past their ear.


The Enhance looks forward to a time when hearing aids will be sold over the counter in a variety of strengths of amplification. Kinneir Dufort wanted to come up with an affordable solution - the hearing equivalent of reading glasses.


The Universal Hear-ring by Pearson Lloyd is a basic core which can house a variety of hardware - handsfree mobile headset, wireless MP3 headphones or digital hearing aids. The user can customise it by adding separate outer rings to suit mood, style or occasion.

[UncleSepp]

1. Whoa cool!

I wonder if I can get some one of those for my husband? He has partial hearing loss in certain ranges from exposure to loud noise, and can't hear in bars and loud restaurants. The glasses thingy would be great, to be able to look at who's talking and hear them, but not amplify the sounds going on to the side and behind.

[liberalpragmatist]

2. Those ones sound really useful

All the ones having to do with blocking out certain noises sound really cool. I could also use the "Goldfish" - I always forget people's names right when they tell them to me, and I could certainly use that.