It is common knowledge that we lose our hearing with age. It’s also common knowledge that attending all your favorite shows speeds up this process significantly.
But it shouldn’t have to. There are earplugs. And now there are smart earplugs. EarDial, a new Kickstarter project by WSE, are transparent earplugs with a special app to promote a safer listening experience.
The EarDials have a “high-fidelity noise filter that will block… harmful frequencies without sacrificing sound quality.” They are made of transparent, hypoallergenic silicon so they can be worn for long hours without standing out.
The EarDial app is meant to notify you when earplugs should be worn based on the decibel level of your surroundings. It supposedly measures the raw decibel level of your environment, as well as the decibel level you’d be exposed to if you put on your EarDial earplugs. The app will also inform you of how long you can be exposed to any given level without suffering from ear damage. This way you can make an informed decision about whether they’re necessary.
To put this in context, exposure to sound that is over 85 decibels is harmful, according toWebMD. And the average level in concerts is 120-129 decibels.
While normal earplugs may look kind of silly, the more stylish — and informative — EarDials might encourage concert-goers to protect their ears, especially since they’ll still be able to have a conversation with friends while wearing them.
You can get them in December if you pledge 15 pounds (approximately 20 dollars) or more to the Kickstarter campaign.
EarDial will also donate five percent of its proceeds to Dangerous Decibels and Action on Hearing Loss.