Loop America - install hearing loops in public venues
Hearing loops are wires in an area that enable the many wearers of hearing aids with tele-coils to hear speech broadcast at normal volumes. There's an international blue and white symbol to designate these areas. They're installed outside the US but generally not in the US. We want to change that.
Q1: It's been incredibly slow and difficult to persuade Americans to consider this technology. How to overcome this?
Idea Description
Links: www.hearingloopatlanta.com , www.hearingloop.org
from Hearing Loop home page:
Hard of hearing people can dream of a future when hearing aids might also serve as wireless loudspeakers, delivering clear, sharp, customized, sound right from inside their ears. They can dream of communities where churches, auditoriums, drive-up business windows and home TV rooms all broadcast their sound directly through these in-the-ear loudspeakers. Thanks to the refinement of "induction loop" systems that transmit directly to hearing aids with telecoils (T-coils), that future can be now! What wi-fi is to laptops, loop systems are to hearing aids.
What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?
Initiate a significant public relations and marketing campaign to educate the hard-of-hearing community of the availability and importance of installing this technology throughout the United States, as surely as it already is throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. The systems are inexpensive, easy to install, and proven.
Vote for it now.
Where are loops installed: You can find loop systems in houses of worship or any public venue or point of service. The familiar blue and white logo is the international symbol for a loop in use (see www.hearingloop.org) . Unfortunately they are not as popular in the US as in Europe. One reason is the popularity of behind the ear (BTE) hearing aids overseas. This style of hearing aid has a t-coil as standard equipment. In the US, custom hearing aids are more common and t-coils are an option so you must ask for it. Sometimes an entire town will get on board as Holland Michigan did where many public areas are looped. "Let's get looped" Alan Hearing Loop Atlanta
Loop systems are used in public address systems with wireless mics. They are an analog device which works via magnetic induction. The audio source is delivered through the loop wire. An electromagnetic induction field is created which drives a tiny copper coil in the hearing aid. This sets up an electric current which drives the receiver (loudspeaker) in the hearing aid, bypassing the microphone and producing exceptionally clear sound. For more information see www.hearingloopatlanta.com
I am not familiar with hearing loops, and they sound like a valuable service. Can the technology be kicked into 2008 with pure wireless technology and a standardized radio frequency? Perhaps that's already been done.
Where do you see these installed? I'm intrigued. Think about all the boomers that could benefit in the next 20 years.