{"id":10889,"date":"2018-12-27T15:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T15:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=10889"},"modified":"2018-12-27T12:57:25","modified_gmt":"2018-12-27T12:57:25","slug":"hex-3d-printed-headphones-protect-hearing-271220185","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/hex-3d-printed-headphones-protect-hearing-271220185\/","title":{"rendered":"HeX; 3D printed headphones to protect your hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The young designer Elen Parry developed the HeX headphones using 3D printing. It was a part of her graduation project at the Manchester School of Art.\u00a0The project was realised with the help of Print City, an education and innovation center specialising in 3D printing.\u00a0This device can be used as conventional earphones or as a help for the hearing impaired. All with the objective being to propose a tool that allows these people to forget for a few moments their disability.<\/p>\n

3D printing is already used in various applications to simplify and improve the daily lives of people with disabilities.\u00a0We are thinking of projects such as\u00a0H (Earring),<\/a>\u00a0which rethinks hearing aids by turning them into jewellery, or the project developed by BQ, which allowed people with\u00a0visual impairments to enjoy works of art through additive manufacturing<\/a>.\u00a0Elen also wanted to focus on a project of “human-centered design methods.” She states;\u00a0“My mission is to encourage social inclusion through my designs, to create improved situations for everyone. The driving principle behind creating HeX earbuds was to create a hearing device that is for everyone \u2013 whether you live with hearing loss or perfect hearing,<\/em>“<\/p>\n

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Elen Parry<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

HeX earphones protect hearing<\/h3>\n

The HeX headphones combine several features that make the device attractive to different target groups.\u00a0On the one hand, these are classic and accessible headphones that protect the hearing. On the other hand it is a tool to help the hearing impaired.\u00a0With a processing chip, headphones are able to distinguish between background noise and noise that people want to hear, such as music or words on a phone call.\u00a0In other words, it means that certain frequencies can be increased or decreased.\u00a0They therefore protect the hearing by reducing loud noises that could damage it.<\/p>

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“People with disabilities often feel excluded and conspicuous because of their medical devices, so I want to transform hearing aids into a desirable wearable tech product that gives people enhanced hearing, style and confidence \u2013 something that anyone might want to wear.<\/em>” To make HeX headphones more attractive to everyone, the device includes some built-in features, such as streaming music and receiving calls.<\/p>\n

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How are the HeXs made?<\/h3>\n

Headphones have a Bluetooth connection but can be attached with a standard silicone cable.\u00a0They can be adapted to the user’s ear in terms of shape and size thanks to 3D printing, thus offering more comfort.\u00a0If you look outside the product, it is presented in a titanium case, which is also customised and 3D printed.\u00a0The hexagonal design would provide a natural and multi-directional listening experience, allowing the user to hear and process a variety of sounds.\u00a0It also reflects an aesthetic that, according to Elen Parry, should be used more often in medical products.<\/p>\n

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A 3D prototype has already been produced at the Print City manufacturing center from liquid resin.\u00a0“This is one of many examples of how additive manufacturing and out-of-the-box thinking by Elen disrupts the current design of medical devices.<\/em>” explains Professor Craig Banks, Academic Director of Print City.\u00a0The goal is to continue to 3D print them, because according to Elen, this allows a simple and fast manufacturing, for a public mass.<\/p>\n

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Find more information on these HeX headphones on the official Elen Parry website\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What do you think of this 3D printed solution?\u00a0Let us know what you think in a comment below or on our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0pages!\u00a0Don\u2019t forget to sign up for our free weekly\u00a0Newsletter<\/a>, with all the latest news in 3D printing delivered straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n

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The young designer Elen Parry developed the HeX headphones using 3D printing. It was a part of her graduation project at the Manchester School of Art.\u00a0The project was realised with the help of Print City, an education and innovation center…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6060,"featured_media":10892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-design","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10889"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10893,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10889\/revisions\/10893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}