asEars
About
asEars sound glasses provide enjoyable communication for people with single-sided deafness (SSD). People suffering from SSD have trouble listening to others in noisy situations and find it difficult to enjoy their conversation. asEars collects the sound that comes from the deaf side by a pair of microphones and transmits it to the other side by a bone conduction speaker. This enables them to listen to others more clearly and enjoy communication better than ever.
I had single-sided deafness and because of that, I felt it difficult to talk to join a conversation in noisy situations like parties and couldn’t enjoy it so much. Therefore, I wanted a device that would solve his own problem. Because I wore glasses, I wished that the function was in it. However, there wasn’t such a product, so we decided to make it by himself.
First, we interviewed several people with single-sided deafness and asked them what kind of problem they have. Second, we researched the existing solutions for people with single-sided deafness. For example, the leader tried existing hearing aids. From the insights we got, we made a bulky prototype with a 3D printer and confirmed the effectiveness of the product. Then we designed and made the frame of asEars with a stereolithography 3D printer to make it more stylish and better fit to people.