Approximately 1.18 Million results pop up when you Google search “are headphones safe for kids?” this question raised by concerned parents is not without good reason. The World Health Organization shared brow raising information by revealing that 1.1 Billion young adults face potential hearing loss due to prolonged exposure to unsafe sound levels on their music devices.
Having a conversation with someone exposes you to 60-65 dB of sound while attending a rock concert doubles it, landing between 105-115 dB. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) states that the permissible exposure time to noise levels beyond the recommended safe level (85 dB) cuts down by half as the level of noise ascends.
Setting all these numbers apart, the love for loud music amongst the youth, refuses to fade. One such music-loving teen is Kingsley Cheng. This sixteen year old, is by no means kidding in his attempt to revolutionize safe hearing habits. By partnering with his father Rayman Cheng, who comes with a rich experience of twenty-four years in the consumer-electronics industry, the duo founded AEGIS Acoustics and brought to us the AEGIS PRO headphones.
The AEGIS PRO’s exclusive jams DEFENDER technology pillars their attempt of empowering hearing health, through superior audio quality within the suggested safety limits of 85dB. It does this, without compromising on the listeners’ audio experience. It’s three mode active noise cancelling system reduces exterior/environmental sounds by up to 95 percent, and a user also enjoys the freedom of mobility with ease of connectivity.
Additional features as stated in a press release by the company, include:
- Perfectly balanced studio quality audio with dual driver design
- LED ambient light listening duration indicator
- Wired / Wireless flexibility and smartphone controls
- 14 hour battery life
- Foldable design with hypoallergenic memory foam inside ear cushions and headband
While most features revolve around the headphones being safe, clarity-rich, and experience-oriented, the LED light indicator is one feature that favours and caters to the concern of parents. It serves as a regulatory display allowing parents to monitor the usage time by switching colors. The colour remains blue when usage is below two hours and changes to yellow when usage extends between two-eight hours. The indicator finally turns red when usage exceeds the safe exposure limit, i.e.beyond eight hours.
“Kids and teens are often busy, and they don’t always remember to turn down their headphones to a safe listening level,” shares Rayman. He is also seen warning his teenaged son to “turn down the music” in their YouTube video.
AEGIS Headphones to Prevent Hearing Loss
The growing exposure of children to loud sound and unhealthy hearing habits has constantly been putting their auditory ability at high risk. These hearing safe headphones serve the purpose of preventing hearing loss that results from exposure to loud music from personal audio devices while allowing the cool quotient of music to still be an active part of youth life. Though targeted mostly towards the youth, the design and appearance has intentionally been maintained differently as they “didn’t want to make kiddie-looking headphones,” said Kingsley.
The father-son duo pitched their dream project of “creating the World’s Safest Audiophile Headphones” on Kickstarter and surpassed their funding target of US$25,000 by a reported 415 percent,successfully raising $103,919. Taking feedback from their project backers into serious consideration AEGIS has gracefully adapted changes and upgrades into their headphones, for which they will soon begin mass-production.
Stating their mission as one to show consumers that they can “actually get SO MUCH MORE” for what is currently being paid by them in the consumer electronics industry, AEGIS Acoustics is all set to give users a safer road for their journey with headphones.
