Ears are a source of unparalleled mystery for those who refuse to regularly check up on them with a swab of a cotton bud every now and then. For those who don’t and for the rest who are just curious to see what’s going on in there, there’s the Earscanner. The product is created by combining two plastic molds and positioning a mirror inside, resulting in an angle that allows you to check the status of your ear with the aid of another mirror. Many of those who love using cotton swabs have been warned by their doctors to take it easy on the Q-Tips. Earscanner is a great option for those who have been invading their ear canals too much. Never again fear the dark recesses of your auditory canal for just $29, with delivery slated for late 2014.
Tag: ears
People use Q-Tips and cotton swabs to clean their ears not realizing that they’re actually risking their health by doing so. These conventional ear-cleaning methods can push wax further into the ear or even puncture the eardrum. The Oto-Tip offers a safe and environmentally-friendly way to clean your ears out. It has a soft, flexible tip that goes into the ear canal. Using a carefully placed attachment, the Oto-Tip prevents the user from traveling too deep into the ear. It charges much like a conventional electric toothbrush and only costs backers $30 with other reward tier options to help clean the ears of less fortunate children in India. Oto-Tip is looking to raise $30,000 on Indiegogo.
Need a boost to your Surface’s sound without buying crazy expensive speakers? The iPad has had a number of silicone speaker enhancements and now the Surface has a stereo answer of its own. Ears offers a simple solution to your quiet woes. This product pair attach to the Surface tablet’s speakers on each corner to amplify the sound that comes out. Ears are designed to direct the sound to the user in front instead of towards the back. This nifty product comes in seven colors to match Microsoft’s colors and is available for the Surface 2 or Pro 2 for $10 with an estimated delivery date of June 2014. Hopefully in the future. Ears hopes to raise $5,500 on Kickstarter in its 30-day campaign.
Oh the struggles of being a girl who wants to be involved in sports. Wearing jewelry can cause injury to both the girl wearing it and those around her if the sport involves any close contact. Since waiting until after softball season doesn’t always get taken into consideration when a girl wants to get her ears pierced, Ear Protection Guards provide that necessary protection. Although not explicitly guaranteed, the assumption is that the barrier will enable piercing through the no-jewelry rule that inspired them. If tape or a band-aid are unacceptable, it might be a good plan to check and be sure about ear guards. Nevertheless, for $20, backers get the product, but it’s not clearly indicated if that means one pair. Expected delivery is July 2014.
The Premise. The acoustics of life shouldn’t require a lofty price. Yet, what most of us take for granted as just another sense is a commodity that others don’t have access to due to a hearing disability. A high quality hearing aid is very expensive, and it’s a barrier that keeps one in five Americans from buying hearing aids that dig deep into their wallets.
The Product. Regardless of whether you use an iPhone or iPad, the iHear is a comfortable hearing aid that delivers crisp and clear sound. It’s waterproof, completely invisible to outside viewers, and can be adjusted to have a perfect fit within your ear in less than a minute. It offers everything that a person with a hearing disability needs, but can do so at the fraction of the cost. The low price/high quality combination makes this hearing aid much more accessible to the average consumer, and thus it gives access to sound to a much larger percentage of the population with a hearing disability.
The Pitch. Both the Indiegogo campaign and the video show that iHear is truly passionate about making hearing aids more affordable. The creators go into depth about what is included, and how customers know that they’re getting reliable hearing aids. Supporting the mission of iHear are the stories of testers who have already changed to the hearing aid. They echo the sentiment of supplying a cheaper competitor for high quality sound delivery.
The Perks. iHear gives plenty of opportunity for anyone to support their campaign and the effort to give access to hearing to more people. The iHear HD can still be claimed at its early bird price of just $149, but the hearing aid will then be priced at a reasonable $200. For those who don’t have a hearing disability, there are plenty of ways to get involved. iHear also has a philanthropic campaign of trying to deliver 1000 hearing devices for free. Pledgers can donate $10 to that cause or pay $379 to get two hearing aids for you and two hearing aids for a person in need.
iHear has also developed a PC-based hearing test that can be administered that is available at $49. Lastly, for those looking to support iHear, you can pick up earphones designed for your smartphone and MP3 player for just $39. It’s currently anticipated that the iHear devices will start being available in August 2014.
The Potential. iHear Medical has a product on its hands that means all the best for improving the lives of people with a hearing disability, but the question is whether or not people without a hearing disability are willing to pledge. iHear still needs to get FDA approval for its products, and then the task will be to challenge the six companies that control the market for these medical devices with higher-priced product.