QUESTION FOR THE SUMMER!

"How can an earplug aimed at the general public attending loud music events (designed to protect from long term hearing damage and acoustic trauma) become a more appealing accessory, which will not reduce the live experience of music and discourage use?"

The journey today:

(my notes that I had to refine in order to find my question)

Feeling sound using bone conduction.

The idea?

In ear plugs constructed with a material that reacts to sound with vibration, creating the concept of bone conduction in-ear plugs? For the club goer to experience the music by feeling throughout the body. Reduce the dislike/unpopularity of earplugs (designed to reduce damage to long term hearing).

Regular comments from club goers trying in-ear plugs and then disliking and not using due to not being able to experience the music fully, dulling the sound. Can an in-ear plug that vibrates to sound (bone conduction) instead create an intense feeling of the music within the body, and therefore an intense and positive and unique experience of music, which will ultimately encourage the use of earplugs? Resulting in the reduction of long term hearing damage and ‘acoustic trauma’?

A FEW STATISTICS: (contact RNID, ask for Donna Tipping? Quote previous statistics and ask for any new statistics or information / surveys in 2011?)

* In a survey of 2,711 festival-goers in 2008, 84% said they experienced dullness of hearing or ringing in the ears after listening to loud music.
“These are the first signs of hearing damage,” says Donna Tipping of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), which commissioned the study. Volumes of 137 decibels have been recorded near the music stages at some music festivals, according to the RNID. “At 140 decibels, it is the same as a jet plane taking off at close range, your ears start hurting,"
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Festivalhealth/Pages/Protectyourears.aspx

Acoustic trauma

Another common cause of hearing loss is damage to the ear from loud noises. This is known as acoustic trauma, and it can occur when part of the delicate inner structure of the ear becomes damaged. After prolonged exposure to loud noises, the cells inside the spiral part of the cochlea become inflamed.

The loudness of the noise and the length of time that you are exposed to it are important factors in acoustic trauma. If you are exposed to loud noises over a long period of time, you are more likely to develop acoustic trauma. People who are at risk from acoustic trauma include:

those who work with noisy equipment, such as pneumatic drills or compressed-air hammers

those who work in environments where there is loud music, such as nightclub staff

those who listen to music at a high volume through headphones

·       

http://nhslocal.nhs.uk/my-health/conditions/h/hearing-impairment/causes

REFINING FURTHER TO FIND THE QUESTION:

To create a concept earplug using sound reactive material. Reducing the damaging bass levels of music at loud music events that can cause long term hearing loss and acoustic trauma, while providing an intense physical and psychological experience of feeling the music by the earplugs reacting to sound by vibration.

REFINING FURTHER

I'm investigating a concept of sound protection ear-plugs for loud music events / clubs etc that are constructed using a new sound reactive material (meeting in London with Materials and Produce at CSM in a couple of weeks) that reacts to sound by vibration. Ultimately meaning the club goer can 'feel' sound through the effects of bone conduction, which is a very potent physical and psychological experience based on feedback so far. This will ultimately encourage people to use earplugs more, as they will gain an intense new experience of listening to loud music, the experience substituting for some of the loss of bass which is a side effect of using earplugs, and this will also result in less people suffering long term hearing damage and acoustic trauma from clubbing etc.