Categories
Television

AccuVoice speaker makes TV dialogue rise above the noise

Soundbars have become popular in recent years in part due to the declining quality of speakers that come with TVs. After all, today’s flat-panel TVs tend to be so thin that there is nowhere to put good-quality speakers anymore. That’s especially a problem for older TV viewers and others with hearing difficulties.

patent-claimedAccuVoice is a TV speaker from audio device manufacturer Zvox that goes a step further than one of its soundbars. That’s because AccuVoice has been specifically designed to help people with hearing loss hear dialogue from whatever show or movie they’re watching on TV. The aluminum speaker is only 17 inches wide and about 2.5 inches high and is simple to hook up because it only has one connecting cord.

Categories
Technology

ProSounds X-Pro earplugs give noise the silent treatment

Earplugs can come in handy whenever people are faced with loud, irritating noise for extended periods of time –- such as on an airplane or at an especially loud concert that a heavy metal fan friend has dragged them to. But there are several problems with earplugs –- among them, that they can sometimes block out too much sound and they can also often be very uncomfortable.

ProSounds X-Pro solves both of those particular issues. They are manually switchable earplugs that have been designed to fit comfortably in any ear. After the X-Pro is placed in the ear, the user can activate its hearing protection with the push of a button. Its closed valve will protect the user’s hearing by providing 30 decibels (dB) of noise reduction with its foam tips (24 dB noise reduction with silicon tips).  When the user needs to hear again, instead of completely removing the earplugs, the user can simply press the button again to open the patent-pending acoustic valve, allowing sound to pass through naturally.

Categories
Connected Objects Music

Aumeo headphone adapter lets everyone make personalized sound decisions

What makes for great audio? Readers of different headphone reviews may often find that experts disagree because what one person considers great audio quality may differ from another.

patent-claimedThat is due in part because everyone’s ears are different, in fact, as unique as fingerprints according to the team behind Aumeo, a small slim square device that takes Bluetooth audio from any device and sends it to the wearer’s choice of wired headphone. Six years in development, the Aumeo adapter works with an app to figure out the optimal hearing profile of each ear via a one-time use app and then from there processes all subsequent sound to the user’s benefit.

Categories
Health and Wellness

iHear brings down the cost of hearing help

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.