Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Hearing Loops Give Music Back to Composer Who Went Deaf in a Day
ABC News: Three years ago Richard Einhorn, an orchestra composer who reveled in the symphony and Broadway performances, went deaf – overnight.
"It was horrifying," said Einhorn, 61, who lives in New York City and had sensory neural hearing loss caused by a virus.
"One day, I felt like I had allergies, and my head was stuffed up and I couldn't hear well and was dizzy," he said. "The next morning my head was spinning with total vertigo and raging tinnitus. I knew immediately I was deaf in my right ear."
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3 comments:
This is yet another example of an incredibly useful and forward thinking technology that Europe has embraced and the United States has completely overlooked. It's amazing that something such as hearing loops could have hidden in the background for years and took so long to gain popularity. There are so many people who are hard of hearing in America, people of all ages who want to enjoy theatre just as much as the rest of the patrons, but who are frustrated by the bulky headsets and the mediocre quality of the hearing aids provided in the spaces. To have clear sound that is loud enough and easy to understand will be such a huge step forward in the world of theatre and for people who are partially deaf.
The innovation discussed in the article is incredible and important for two reasons. The first reason is that it increases the accessibility of theatre and musical performances. People who are deaf or have bad hearing, with this new technology, will now be able to enjoy the same art that others have the privilege to enjoy. It is important to make art accessible to all, whether they are handicapped or not. I hope that theaters across the country recognize the importance of accessibility, and implement technologies such as hearing loops in their companies and organizations. The second reason why I believe the innovation in the article is important is because it has given hearing in theaters back to a man who once made his living in the theater. In the performance industries, it is a sad but true fact that the ability to perform may decrease with age. Unfortunately for the man in the article, he is not able to perform at the same level he did prior to his hearing loss. Creating technology that allows professionals to be able to persevere in their fields is an significant accomplishment.
I'm very interested in this hearing loop technology. This article puts the system in a very positive light. It brings up many advantages including it's relatively low cost, great sound quality and it's common adoption in Europe. Every technology has some downsides, but the article does not go in to hearing loop's downsides. I wonder if there are any health concerns with the magnates used to send the sound. If this technology is only able to be used by the 66% of hearing aids that work with it, is it really helping enough of the hard of hearing community to be worth the investment. Maybe there are other systems out there that are able to help more people hear. This article does a great job explaining the why we should all switch to hearing loops and maybe we should, but there are things that we should know before we all start praising the system.
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