Next Week is Hearing Awareness Week.
Kicking off on Sunday and concluding next Saturday (August 26), Hearing Awareness Week aims to raise awareness of not only the importance of hearing but its fragility.
The official Hearing Awareness Week website provides a history infographic on various hearing devices dating back to the 1800s. According to the infographic, the ear trumpet was the most popular hearing device until the early 20th century, the Akoulallion was the first electric hearing aid and was produced in the late 19th century and they were then succeeded by Vactuphones (vacuum tube hearing aids) in the 1920s. From the 1930s, wearable hearing aids were the most popular, then transistors in the 1940s and 50s, microprocessors in the 1970s, and digital devices from the 1980s. The infographic also details what it is in store for future devices and the possibility of a hearing loss cure.
The website also provides a noise simulator allowing users to discover how certain types of music, devices and environments can affect hearing. The simulator also provides information on how long people can be exposed to the specific music, devices and environments for without ear protection.
The Hearing Awareness Week website also provides free downloadable fact sheets on various hearing related issues.
More information on Hearing Awareness Week can be found here.
Image via Pixabay.