In July, the Ideas Competition asked participants to develop an idea that leverages technology to inspire people to take action and raise public awareness for hearing loss. A group from Denmark won the mini-competition with their idea: “Make it a Gadget." The group proposes reconceptualizing hearing aids as gadgets that are useful for everyone. This could change the public’s perception of hearing aids and possibly inspire more people to take action on their hearing.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with three members of the winning group (from left to right: Miguel Kjaedegaard Carvalho, Nicolai Bentzen, and Charlotte Branth Claussen) to discuss their idea.
Inspiration for the idea stemmed from the group’s desire to radically change the public’s current perception of hearing aids. Instead of associating hearing aids with hearing loss, they believe hearing aids can be transformed into an essential gadget, like a smartphone. The main purpose of the device would be to help people to easily manage multiple tasks in their daily life. The hearing aid feature of the device would be just one of many useful components.
“You use your smartphone to aid you with tasks in your daily life. And people integrate their smartphone into their daily lives. Why can’t you incorporate your hearing aid in the same way?” asks group member Nicolai Bentzen.
According to the group, hearing aids could do much more than just improve someone’s hearing. The hearing aid could be seamlessly connected to a smartphone, allowing the user to listen to music, send text messages through dictation, and speak to friends on the phone, all through this “new advanced headset.” The group imagines that in the future, the “advanced headset” could be connected to a multitude of different smartphone apps.
“For example, the ‘advanced headset’ could access translation services on your smartphone, such as Google translate. In this way, the advanced headset could provide the user with on-the-fly translations of conversations,” states group member Miguel Kjaedegaard Carvalho.
Adding useful functionality to hearing aids and making them “cool” was a very important aspect of the idea, according to the group. Adding useful features to hearing aids could broaden its appeal to the masses. Hearing aids would no longer be considered a device worn by people with hearing loss. These new headsets could become a must-have gadget for everyone.
“People could say to each other: ‘Hey, did you see the new gadget I got!’ If the hearing aid could be directly connected to a computer and with a smartphone, then it would be seen as cool and would be both useful and practical.” states Charlotte Branth Claussen.
How do you think hearing aids could be reimagined as gadgets? What types of functionality would transform hearing aids into something useful for everyone? Visit www.awarenessforhearingloss.com , search for the idea, and add your comments and suggestions!
Names of Group Members: Nicolai Bentzen, Charlotte Branth Claussen, Miguel Kjaedegaard Carvalho, Stefan Gram, and Karsten Mortensen