I think I'm too old to try for a high-tech fortune. That doesn't mean I don't have ideas! For instance, who needs the Apple Watch, when you can have the "Whisper Friend?" If you like the idea, take it away. It's got to be worth a billion, at least! Stand by, I'll explain the concept.
Let's begin with what already exists. Pictured above is a device that is, even now, in actual production and actual use. It's the "Lyric" hearing aid. I've actually tried them out. You put this little device into your ear, and it stays there for something like six months. It's so far down that no one can see it. You can take a shower, maybe even surf. If you want to cut out the world, just shut off the amplification with a little magnet that goes on your key chain. That feature is great for sleeping on airplanes, and in other noisy environments. The hearing aid amplifies any of the frequencies you're having trouble with. The device improved my hearing more than any other hearing aid I have ever tried. It's all digital, of course!
Want to read up on the Lyric? Just click right here!
Starting with what already exists, let's move on to the new idea. According to a newspaper article appearing in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on August 4th, Nokia is starting a mapping war with both Apple and Google. Here's the statement from the article that sparked my idea: "Some maps will become so integrated into smart-phone apps that they will know when and where a user might want to shop or eat...."
Well, this got me thinking that it would be quite possible to have a Lyric-like device placed in one's ear, connected to the ever-present cellphone/computer you carry on your body. Various apps could obtain information like that provided by the Nokia mapping program (called HERE), or almost anything else. Want directions? Right in your ear. Want to listen to music? Right in your ear. Want to listen to an audiobook? Right in your ear. If you happen to have some sort of hearing impairment, you could use the devices for that purpose, too, of course, but the idea here is that you could receive information, in audio form, just "whispered" into your ear, without anyone being the wiser. Of course, you'd have to pull them out if you were ever a contestant on Jeopardy, or something like that. Or for spelling bees, etc.
But think about it. Don't you think that's a lot better than some heavy-handed watch?
This idea is free for the taking. Go make your billion!
And if you think something like this might turn human beings into robots, well, that doesn't mean it wouldn't sell!
http://thehouseofhearing.com/hearing-aids/lyric-hearing-aids/
I like my body just the way it is.
ReplyDeleteYes, hearing in my left ear is less than it used to be. That way I can roll onto my right side in the morning and not hear the garbage trucks proceeding up the street outside my bedroom window.
And yes, my eyesight is diminished a bit by floaters and a cataract, but I can still read just fine and type on this poor defenseless keyboard with abandon.
So no ear buds for me, and no cell phone to connect them with. I prefer my experience of the real world unmediated by electronic devices.
Thus I am rich, not poor.