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Telephone 0808 808 0123
Textphone 0808 808 9000
informationline@rnid.org.uk
RNID: For deaf and hard of hearing people.
Issue 47 - June to July 2005
One in Seven reviews headphones designed to increase your listening pleasure, looks at a project to make hearing aids look more stylish, and speaks to Astronaut Buzz Aldrin about his hearing loss.
Man on the moon
It was the live television event of the 20th century. But the pictures beamed back from the moon landing to millions of TV screens were as grainy as they were historic. Only Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the history-makers, had a clean and stark view of the lunar surface that day. And, almost four decades on, Aldrin's eyes still shine when he remembers it.
Man on the moon, one of the greatest live events on television
"There's no air on the moon so there’s no haze,” he says. "You can see the horizon, and you can move around very easily." Aldrin, now a youthful looking 75, sees everything pretty clearly although he noticed a few years ago when “everyone seemed to be mumbling at cocktail parties" that his hearing was not what it was.
The future of hearing
In May 2004, 18 of Britain's best product designers were commissioned to design a new product to enhance hearing. The results, are extraordinary and varied, they open up a whole new world of hearing protection, augmentation, experimentation and style, for everyone. There will be a show on Tuesday 26 July at the Victoria and Albert musuem in London for the public to enjoy. The new designs are not just acceptable, but desirable and aspirational – even to those who have perfect hearing to begin with. What if, for example, you were able to buy cheap hearing aids off the shelf in a shop on the high street, much like you can currently buy fixed prescription reading glasses? They might come in different strengths and sizes, and their stylish design would be more like the high tech headphones for an MP3 player than flesh-coloured and invisible.
Easy Listening
The future of hearing, new designs on show at the Victoria and Albert museum
We look at a range of cordless and corded headphones, that could increase your listening pleasure – whether you're listening with other people or on your own.
Cordless (also known as wireless), headphones have two main advantages over corded types – no trailing wires and, instead of plugging into the headphone socket, they can be used with the audio sockets at the back of your TV or stereo. This prevents the loudspeaker on your TV and stereo from cutting out, so you can sit back, relax and listen through your headphones knowing that others around you can listen too.
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