New Earbuds Save Hearing—and Could Power the Planet
AU 2013 is hosting dozens of today’s top innovators and progressive thinkers and you’ll have the opportunity to meet them at any number of sessions and networking events.
One of those visionaries is Stephen Ambrose, Asius Technologies CEO. Since the 1970s, Stephen has protected hundreds of thousands of musicians from hearing loss on stage. Now he wants to do that for the rest of the world. Oh, and while he's at it, he’s created a new source of electrical energy.
Stephen has logged past lives as both a Top 40 songwriter and musician and inventor of the wireless in-ear monitor, the device that allows performers on stage to hear themselves above the sound of other musicians’ instruments—and the din of the audience. Today, he’s developed the Ambrose Diaphonic Ear Lens (ADELTM), a new type of earpiece that solves the problem of hearing loss resulting from repeated earbud use. The technology can also be used to provide richer sound quality in hearing aids.
Learn more about ADEL technology
Stephen used Autodesk® Inventor® to design, prototype, and quickly bring ADEL earbuds to market; the product will be available for sale in early 2014.
His “aha moment” came when he realized that his invention could also be used as a new source of electricity. He was investigating how sound and noise “beat up the eardrums,” and came to a realization about the true culprit in hearing loss—and how the technology he’d developed to avert it could be used for other purposes. “What we thought was acoustic energy in the ear is actually pneumatic energy,” explains Ambrose. “So if that sound was used to create pressure, that pressure could then be used to power electrical generators.”
Meet Stephen at the Manufacturing Connection on Tuesday, at 8:30 p.m. For more information about how to register, stop by the recharge bar in the Digital Prototyping Live Lounge at AU.
