‘Bionic Earbuds’ Could Protect and Restore Hearing (and Make Music Sound Better)
A tech company claims its bionic earbuds will not only protect and restore hearing. They will also make your favorite tunes sound even better.
Last November, Asius Technologies launched a crowdfunding campaign for its audiophile-class earphones: the ADEL Drum Earbuds. Inside each earbud is an artificial eardrum, which takes the beating your human eardrum normally would from sound pressure. They prevent further strain by making it possible for lower volumes to sound louder — without raising a decibel.
“Because of this technology, we have artists that are hearing for the first time the way they used to before rock n’ roll stole their normal hearing,” said Stephen Ambrose, president and co-founder of Asius Technologies, in his crowdfunding video.
Restoring hearing
Ambrose has tested his technology on famed rockers like Paul Stanley from KISS and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. But his project went viral earlier this year when he reached out to AC/DC singer Brian Johnson.
Calling it the “darkest day in [his] professional life,” Johnson had pulled out of the 2016 AC/DC Rock or Bust World Tour. He’d noticed his partial hearing loss was interfering with his performance. After visiting top physicians, he was told he risked complete deafness if he kept playing in loud venues.
A couple of months later in June, Johnson gave fans a positive update after trying a prototype of Ambrose’s new in-ear technology.
“I was really moved and amazed to be able to hear music again like I haven’t heard for several years now. I can’t wait for it to be miniaturized so I can use it in every situation from normal communication, going out to noisy restaurants, to performing live music on stage.”
Also demoing the device, Paul Stanley of KISS described hearing clearer bass frequencies. He also said he was “hearing pitch and hearing notes that honestly [he] didn’t hear before.”
Delivering safe sound
Standard earbuds seal the ear canal, which creates harmful pneumatic pressure from sound. The eardrum will tighten in self-defence. But this dampens the sound, pushing listeners to hike the volume more, which releases even more damaging pressure and further constricts the eardrum.
According to Ambrose, the ADEL Drum Earbuds break this cycle. Since the fake eardrum — or rather the Ambrose Diaphonic Ear Lens — moves instead of your real one, lower in-ear volumes “sound louder and better.”
The ADEL Drum Earbuds also change the listening experience so you can hear what’s going on around you. The campaign describes the effect as scoring your life to music.
This might not be ideal for sullen teenagers who want to hide from the world, but their older selves may be thankful. It’s also a more natural way of hearing sound.
“It actually brought the sound out of your head, and the experience of life with your music surrounds you that feel like you’re really there. And it’s the way your ears were meant to hear in the first place, and it’s also the way that speakers were meant to operate,” Ambrose said.
Future uses?
While the new earbuds are not hearing aids per se — they have no microphones — their technology offers benefits over traditional devices.
For instance, a hard-of-hearing woman named Laura Landreth tested the technology and said it was better than that of her regular hearing aids. With Ambrose’s invention, she could better locate where sound was coming from, such as which direction a “hello” was spoken from.
For people challenged by hearing loss, being able to place the origin of noise could improve safety. A pedestrian might better determine if someone’s warning them with a honk or simply expressing road rage. In emergency situations, seconds matter, so lessening confusion with hearing aids could be lifesaving.
If you would like to purchase the earbuds, visit the ADEL Drum Earbud crowdfunding page here. The pricing starts at US$169 and goes up depending on whether you choose certain options, including tensioner and speaker type.
Image source: ADEL Drum Earbuds
