THE Art OF SOUND

Transcription

THE Art OF SOUND

The world of Widex
The
Art
of
SOUND
#04
2011
www.widex.com
Printed by RD / 2011
9 502 2593 001 #01
¡9 502 2410 001E¤ ¡#01v¤
DEAR READERS
Welcome to the fourth issue of LISTEN magazine.
As hearing aid users know only too well, the way sound is
perceived differs from person to person. And those of us
without hearing loss often take sounds for granted. This edition’s cover story looks at three creative people who work
with sound in different and unusual ways - from an award
winning garden designer, to a sound designer, to an internationally acclaimed artist.
Just what is it that makes the sound of Widex hearing aids
unique? While technology is undoubtedly of vital importance
when it comes to getting the best sound in our hearing aids,
there is also the people factor to consider.
Good sound of course plays a part in determining just how
satisfied people are with their hearing aids. We investigate
the findings of a major consumer survey among hearing aid
users in Europe revealing that the vast majority of users are
satisfied with their hearing aids. However there are still many
people who would benefit from using a hearing aid.
We also feature the dramatic start for Widex in Chile, and talk
to the new general manager of Widex New Zealand, which
became a subsidiary of Widex in 2010.
LISTEN has been incredibly well received since its inception, but we always welcome feedback so if you have any
comments, positive or otherwise, feel free to write to us at
[email protected]
Peter Hentze Knudsen
Managerial Editor
The cover shot is titled ‘Anechoic
Chamber’ by Jacob Kirkegaard.
It is a good example of Jacob’s
approach to sound: there is
no such thing as silence, even
in an echo-free chamber.
Photograph©Jacob Kirkegaard
Managerial Editor
Peter Hentze Knudsen
[email protected]
Editor-at-large
Jeanette Blom
[email protected]
Writers
Andrew Somerville
[email protected]
Julie Bauer Larsen
[email protected]
Isabella Y. Jespersen
[email protected]
Simon Brookes
[email protected]
Graphic Design
Marianne Kim Noel
[email protected]
Translation
Lærke Christensen
[email protected]
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Listen – The world of Widex
Science and health
People
4The best start
6Widex ambassadors
Research and technology
Trends
10The Widex Sound
28The hearing aid inside out
33Just like a mobile phone,
but better
30Happy with your hearing aid?
Society
14A century of education
19Selective hearing
20The art of sound
24Sound design
26Sound garden
34Award winning play
Widex around the world
16Yes - in my backyard
18Consumers desire Windmade
products
36The accidental audiologist
38Chile
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Science and Health
THE BEST START
When a baby comes into the world with a hearing loss, it can affect their entire development. WIDEX BABY
aims to help.
“From the moment they are born, babies have a need to
hear,” says Åsa Eriksson, a paediatric audiologist at Karolinska
University Hospital in Stockholm. “They use sound to orientate
themselves so they can tell where their parents are. Later in
their development, hearing is also decisive in how fast and
how well the baby will learn to talk. An untreated hearing loss
can have enormous consequences for a newborn’s future – it
can arrest their learning ability and social welfare. Therefore
it is important that we take action on hearing loss as early as
possible,” she says.
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Åsa and her colleagues have been involved in a series of trials
featuring WIDEX BABY - Widex’ hearing aid for babies. One of
the children who took part in the trial was two-year old Erik.
“Erik is born with a hearing loss. It is especially the high frequencies he has trouble hearing,” says his mother Anna. “He
got his first hearing aid when he was three months old but we
had some challenges getting them to sit tight and work properly. Six months later he got his Widex hearing aids and today
he loves them.”
Science and Health
Talks the whole time
WIDEX BABY440 is the only hearing aid designed specifically
for the needs of babies. It lets babies hear a broad range of
sounds, in particular the all-important high frequency sounds
such as female and children’s voices. With such exceptional
sound quality, a baby can get the most out of their hearing as
early as possible.
”Another challenge with hearing aids for small children is to
minimise feedback. Feedback is a ringing sound that can happen when the hearing aid is closed in – for example, in a hat or
a pillow where a child is resting. This problem is almost completely eliminated with WIDEX BABY as the newly designed
ear-tip ensures that it seals tightly in the ear canal.”
Pleasant for babies and adults
“When we first heard about the problems that could arise because of Erik’s hearing loss, we were shocked. Luckily, thanks
to his hearing aid, his speech development corresponds to his
age. He talks the whole time, sings songs and loves music,”
says Anna who also has two other children (eight-year-old
William and six-year-old Ellen).
Easy fitting and comfortable
One of the biggest challenges making hearing aids for infants
is that their ear canal grows and changes shape. Therefore
it’s necessary to take a new earmould impression every few
months or so in order for it to fit correctly. WIDEX BABY solves
this by using a unique instant ear-tip. The ear-tip comes in different sizes and is easy to change as the baby grows bigger.
”It is important that a baby with hearing loss uses their hearing aids as much as possible. So it should be pleasant to have
on and it isn’t if the earmould doesn’t fit in the ear,” says Åsa
Eriksson. ”With a soft instant ear-tip solution, it is easier to ensure that the child does not notice the hearing aid in the ear.”
”We look forward tremendously to Erik’s future and think that he
will turn out like any other child. He has got the best start in terms
of his hearing loss.”
The more time a child has their hearing aid on, the better their
language development. Therefore WIDEX BABY is designed to
suit small ears. It is light yet produced in strong materials that
can withstand everyday use. And a LED that blinks lets parents
know that everything is working as it should.
We had to get used to the lamp blinking behind Erik’s ear,”
says his mother. ”But it is a great help in everyday situations so
we’re always sure that he gets the best possible sound in his
ears. It is easy to change the batteries and the staff at his daycare have also got used to it.”
”Erik always has his hearing aids on. He can tumble and play
exactly like other children do. When he takes a bath or goes to
bed, he takes them off himself but as soon as he wakes up, he
wants them on again.”
”We have had really good feedback from the trial families who
have tried WIDEX BABY440. It is particularly the tiny size, user
friendliness and the fantastic sound that attract positive words.”
”When Erik wakes up in the morning he shouts ’ears, ears!’ and
often comes running with his hearing aids himself.”
”It is important that babies get as good sound experience as possible as quickly as possible. It has been hard to find a hearing aid
that can be fitted perfectly for infants, but in the future we will
recommend Widex hearing aids for babies.”
Anna, mother of two-year-old Erik.
Åsa Eriksson, paediatric audiologist.
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Section headline
Morten Olsen
Julia Neumann
Zohra Segal
Pepe Lienhard
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People
WIDEX AMBASSADORS
– MORE THAN JUST A NAME
Surveys show that many people still have reservations about wearing hearing aids. Our Widex ambassadors
around the world aim to redress this.
“If you can’t hear, then you’re a little stupid.”
“Only old people use hearing aids.”
These are just two of the often heard prejudices that many
people still have about hearing loss. Such prejudice helps
explain why it is often years before people decide to do something about their hearing loss.
“When you can’t hear properly, it affects your quality of life,”
says PR Manager Peter Knudsen from Widex. “And the longer
you wait, the more your hearing is damaged. Therefore we
have a goal to break down the taboos concerning hearing
aids.”
He adds, “When we use famous people in our marketing, it is
exactly to break down the psychological barriers many have.
When someone famous or well-known stands up in public and
talks about their hearing loss, many people can relate to their
story and that makes it easier to take the next step towards
better hearing.”
Name: Morten Olsen
Born: 1949
Profession: Former professional football
player and manager of the Danish football
team
Ambassador for Widex in Denmark
“When I became manager of the national team, it became
clearer for me that I had a problem with my hearing. Particularly in press conferences and other noisy gatherings, my missing hearing was annoying for both me and those around me.
Luckily, I have easily become used to wearing hearing aids and
today I am grateful that there is fantastic technology available that makes it possible for me to function better both in
my professional and social life. Hearing aids have given me
increased life quality, and the only thing I regret today is that I
didn’t do something about my hearing sooner.”
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Section headline
Morten Olsen
Julia Neumann
Zohra Segal
Pepe Lienhard
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People
Name: Julia Neumann
Born: 1994
Profession: Student and currently ranked 12
in the German amateur golf league
Ambassador for Widex in Germany
“I like the Widex hearing aids because of their cool design and
their considerably smaller size in comparison to my former
hearing aids. But also, the entire sensation of hearing is much
better than with my old hearing aids even though they are so
much smaller. Moreover, I feel in good hands at Widex and I
get very good support.”
Name: Pepe Lienhard
Born: 1946
Profession: Bandleader and musician
Ambassador for Widex in Switzerland
Name: Zohra Segal
Born: 1912
Profession: Actress
Ambassador for Widex in India
“For me, acting is my lifeline and I can’t imagine a day without
rehearsing a dialogue. As I was continuing with my work I felt
that I was hearing little less from my one ear. There was a little
imbalance, which I began to experience at first and this became aggravated as the months passed. I became so worried,
as I began to foresee a future when I would have to act in real
life too, pretending that I had heard everything.
The best solutions to my problem, suggested by an ENT
specialist, were Widex digital hearing aids. One of the bene
fits is that they are so small and fit so snugly in my ear that
nobody needs to know I am wearing them. Before I had them,
there were times when I couldn’t hear the prompts during my
stage rehearsals and performances. Now it’s a different story,
altogether.”
“As a musician, I place great value on quality not only when
creating music, but also when it comes to hearing. It is crucial
to hear well. I want to encourage those affected by hearing
loss to face their problem. It is worth helping your hearing with
a hearing aid - for good music alone.
Life should be fun. Many people are ashamed of their hearing loss and completely shut themselves off to others. As an
ambassador for Widex, I am very concerned about everybody
taking part in social life as much as they can.”
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Section headline
10 Listen – The world of Widex
THE WIDEX SOUND
When choosing a stereo, MP3 player or a set of speakers, most of us look for products that provide high-quality
sound. But what about hearing aids? Is it possible to pack a rich, life-like sound with plenty of nuances into a tiny
hearing aid? And can a person with hearing loss enjoy good sound on a par with someone with normal hearing?
LISTEN has talked to some experts to find the answers.
What is good sound?
The perception of what constitutes good sound varies a great
deal from person to person. But according to Lars Bækgaard,
a Widex electronics engineer and a self-declared audio geek,
there are some very definite parameters that must be met to
ensure proper sound quality. “These include bandwidth and
the degree of noise that is present in the sound. It is also important that there is no distortion, and that no noises are generated which were not present in the original sound picture. So
yes, good sound is largely a matter of taste, but not entirely,”
says Lars.
Such considerations are taken into account every time Widex
chooses components and signal processing methods, and
when, during development, we listen to the hearing aids to
make sure that the sound is exactly as we want. So how do you
choose the right components? “We measure them and listen to
them, to make sure they are the best,” says Lars.
Another challenge in achieving good sound is the size of
modern hearing aids – the smaller the space, the smaller the
various components have to be. “We should really look upon
a hearing aid as a device of compromises because there will
always be a limit to the level at which such a tiny speaker can
play,” Lars explains. When choosing speakers for hearing aids,
in addition to considering the tiny amount of space available,
we also have to ensure that they do not use too much power,
because minimal battery consumption is vital for today’s consumers.
Choosing the right components and engineering our own signal processing methods are essential elements in the development of a new hearing aid, but the development process also
has a more subjective side - namely the slightly ‘softer’ parameters that we choose according to our own individual taste and
which help us to round out the sound, making it clearer and
more pleasant. The result is what we call the Widex Sound.
The Widex Sound
The Widex Sound is a combination of the right choice of components and signal processing methods, and the adjustments
we make to the sound itself. According to Lars Bækgaard, all
modern hearing aids provide ‘good’ sound. “You could compare hearing aids to digital cameras: all of them can take great
pictures nowadays, but some cameras have parameters that
suit you better than others.” he explains. “And that’s how it is
with sound too, because you can easily hear the difference in
sound between the various hearing aid manufacturers.”
The specific adjustments we make to the sound are of course
a trade secret, but we strive to ensure that the sound that
leaves the hearing aid is, as far as possible, identical to the one
that enters the microphones. “Here at Widex, we believe that
the best sound is sound that is completely natural,” says Lars.
“Basically it should be as clean as possible, even though what
a hearing aid actually does is transform the sound to adapt
it to the individual user.” The sound is tailored to match the
user’s specific hearing loss through noise reduction, adjusting
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the gain for different frequencies and so on; this is essential to
ensure that they are comfortable with their hearing aid.
Good sound and hearing loss
Can you enjoy fantastic sound when you have hearing loss? Of
course you can! Great sound means a hearing aid will spend
longer time in the user’s ears instead of ending up unused in a
drawer. If it fails to supply a pure, clear, noise-free sound, users
may end up being able to hear, but not understand, what is being said. And as they are dependent on sound, they are often
much more concerned with sound quality than people with
normal hearing.
There may also be differences between how people with normal hearing and people with hearing loss prefer to hear sound.
“For example, a person with normal hearing usually does not
want any part of the sound picture to disappear,” says Lars. “It
can feel like having your head under a blanket if the treble is
missing, but if you cannot in any case hear frequencies above,
for example, 2 kHz, it may be that you just prefer the remaining
sound to be pure. So the idea of what you can hear and what
you like is highly dependent on the individual.”
The ClearBand ‘loudspeaker’
It is possible that you have a couple of these in your livingroom, and if you don’t, you almost certainly know someone
who does: floor speakers. There is obviously a reason why
many people give their floor-standing speakers pride of place
in the living-room, and that is because they produce a really
good sound.
What you may not know, however, is that the world of hearing
aids also has a worthy equivalent to the floor loudspeaker: the
Widex ClearBand receiver. Just as with big floor speakers, the
ClearBand receiver has two membranes, which means that the
bass and treble sounds are handled separately, thereby providing the user with a much more nuanced sound. So the ClearBand receiver is like a floor-standing speaker packed into a tiny
box, which, despite its size, is capable of producing excellent
sound quality.
The human factor
With the advanced technology we have at our disposal today,
it takes a great deal of knowledge and experience to select
and combine the right hearing aid components. But knowledge and experience are two things we have in abundance at
Widex, as many of the engineers and technicians responsible
for that part of our production have been with the company
for decades. Their invaluable experience helps Widex introduce new technologies to provide genuine benefits to users
rather than merely looking good on a data sheet.
The golden ears
We want to be sure that our sound is absolutely perfect before
the products leave our factory, so we have a group of experts
we call the ‘golden ears’ who actually listen to every single
hearing aid. Engineer Helge Pontoppidan Föh is a member of
this group. “The members of the group are either trained listeners, or people with hearing loss. And when we say ‘trained’,
we don’t mean that they have been on some course or other,
but that they are accustomed to listening to hearing aids and
the ‘side effects’ these can have,” he says.
Listen – The world of Widex 13
Society
A CENTURY OF EDUCATION
The Ceylon School for the Deaf in Ratmalana is 100 years old this year. It is continuing its great work educating
deaf and blind children through good times and bad.
History
Helping hand
Teacher Mary Chapman, who came to Sri Lanka from southern
India in 1910 where she had worked for a school for the deaf,
founded the school. She was concerned that no similar institution existed on the island at that time and began a campaign
through the local newspapers to change that. She also raised
£1,000 back in Britain to fund her project.
The schools provide facilities and equipment, including hearing aids, as many of the children come from under-privileged
homes that could not provide such instruments for themselves.
Her new school started in a bungalow in 1912, but just two
years later land was donated in Ratmalana, 15 miles south
of the capital Colombo, where the first school building was
erected.
Some of the children have been abandoned by their families
and are looked after by guardians provided by the school. For
them, the school and its dedicated team of teachers provide a
loving and caring environment in which to grow and develop.
The Sri Lankan government pays the salaries of the teachers
and provides books, plus each child receives a small maintenance allowance.
Today
The school started with just four children. Today 600 pupils
who are hearing impaired or hearing impaired and blind receive schooling, support, accommodation and vocational training. There are now three residential schools - two in Ratmalana
and a third in Jaffna. They were recently renamed The Institute
for the Hearing and Sight Impaired.
However, everything else, from school meals to computers,
hearing aids to teaching software, and the maintenance of the
buildings and grounds is funded by donations. The schools are
a registered charity that receives support from NGOs, corporations and private individuals from Sri Lanka and around the
world.
Formal schooling
How you can help
The schools teach children the national curriculum from 5 to 19
years of age. Non-formal schooling is provided for pre-school
age children with a special programme provided for infants
and their mothers.
To support its work educating and creating productive members of society, the schools run a Sponsor a Child programme.
There is also vocational training provided post-school age to
ensure the pupils leave Ratmalana with the skills to earn their
own living.
There are varying levels of sponsorship that donors can
provide. This could simply involve contributing to the child’s
welfare and education. For those who would like to be more
hands-on, there is the opportunity to receive feedback on
how the pupil is doing, communicate with the child, and even
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meet them on a school visit. Sponsors will receive the pupil’s
school report at the end of each year and be kept informed of
progress in sports and other non-academic pursuits.
Sponsor a child
The minimum cost of sponsorship is £144 (165 Euros) per year.
This covers only part of the cost of education and providing
food, lodging and healthcare. The sponsorship money can be
paid in monthly instalments or one lump sum.
This is best arranged via the UK, where a fundraising charity
has been established - Ceylon School for the Deaf & Blind – UK
Fund (Registered Charity No: 1119890). For further information on Sponsoring a Child, or simply making a cash donation,
please contact the Chair of the Trustees of the UK-based charity, Henry Kenyon (email: [email protected]).
School Mission Statement:
“To facilitate and enable those lives that have been placed in
our care, to successfully progress from handicapped dependents to self-managing contributors in society”.
YES – IN MY BACKYARD
Just behind Widex’ headquarters stands a windmill that produces all the energy needed to produce hearing aids
– and then some. Building a hundred metre high windmill in our own backyard has been a challenge, but it has
definitely been worth it, according to manager Richard Tøpholm.
“When we grew too big for our old building, we chose to build
a new headquarters. It gave us a unique possibility to take into
account the environment right from the start, and it has been
exciting to try to make the new headquarters as sustainable as
possible. With 650 employees all housed in the one building,
we needed to think big if we were to reach our goal of building
a CO2 neutral building.
“The building is partly covered in solar panels and we get heating and cooling from the groundwater. But the most visible
initiative is the windmill. The local council have been positive
about the windmill and its potential, but of course there was a
bit of paperwork involved. At the same time, a windmill in your
backyard requires good dialogue with our neighbours and we
have also used a lot of energy on that. Most people are positive
about the windmill, and we often get positive observations
about our new headquarters.
“We have always had a great number of guests who come to
see our facilities. Since we moved to our new headquarters,
there are also some who would like to experience the building
and its green technology for themselves. In that way, we hope
we can inspire others to think about energy saving and the
environment in their own buildings. In most cases it is also actually worth it economically - so it should be the natural choice
for everybody.”
WIDEX WINDMILL FACTS
- Produces 3.4 million kW a year
- Saves 2,000 tons of CO2 every year
- Is 100 metres high to the tip of the wing
- Has a wing span of 80 metres
- Surplus energy goes into the energy grid
www.windmade.org
CONSUMERS DESIRE
WINDMADE™ PRODUCTS
Ever wish you could know what kind of energy was
used to make the products you buy? More than
25,000 consumers around the globe had the same
hope and today this has become reality with the new
consumer label Windmade.
Windmade is the first global consumer label to display which
corporations and products utilise wind energy. Pioneer of the
new label is Danish windmill producer Vestas Wind Systems
(who have also constructed the Widex windmill). Windmade
has the support of some big names, including the UN and the
WWF, who both stress the importance of sustainability in the
products we manufacture and use.
“We want to build a bridge between consumers and companies committed to clean energy, and give consumers the option to choose more sustainable products,” says Ditlev Engel,
CEO of Vestas. “We hope that this will create a strong element
of consumer pull which will accelerate the pace of wind energy
development globally. We strongly encourage forward-looking
companies to join us in this effort.”
In order for companies to attain the label, they must undergo
a certification process that entails the verification of how much
wind energy they use. Widex is currently awaiting approval.
“Of all the forces of nature, I should think the wind contains the
largest amount of motive power – that is, power to move things…
As yet, the wind is an untamed and unharnessed force; and quite
possibly one of the greatest discoveries hereafter to be made, will
be the taming, and harnessing of it.”
- Abraham Lincoln, in ‘Discoveries and Inventions’ (1915)
“When the wind changes direction, there are those who build
walls and those who build windmills.”
- Chinese proverb
tm
Society
SELECTIVE HEARING
The audiological term
The everyday term
Selective hearing can be compared with the ability of eyes to
focus on a single word and sentences on a page full of letters. In the same way, the ears on people with normal hearing
distinguish different sound pictures and keep focus on for
example, speech, even in noisy surroundings. If several people
are talking at the same time, we can also select so that we
primarily hear the sounds and receive the information we are
focusing on. Selective hearing is in that way a positive term in
an ‘audiological’ sense.
In everyday language, the term selective hearing is often used
wrongly as an expression for hearing what you want to hear.
Often this characteristic is attributed to men and children who
are considered to be both annoying and foolish. ‘You have
selective hearing’ or ‘you hear selectively’ they are often told
if they don’t focus on what someone is saying. And it is in a
sense correct, even though it is not the most positive basis…
For many people with a hearing loss, it is difficult to choose
which sound to listen to. That is, wholly or partially selective
hearing - and that can provide enormous challenges day to
day. Modern hearing aids can help this difficulty as the user
can hear more and clearer sounds and get an improved sense
of direction to help hear selectively.
…hang up the clothes, take out
the garbage, get the dog something to drink,
cut the grass, watch the kids all day, and
finish the rest of the dishes…
”My son has selective hearing – he never hears me when
I ask for help with the washing up, but he doesn’t have a
problem hearing when I ask if he wants some cake.”
”I said to my husband that he could drink a beer with the
neighbour when he was finished cutting the hedge. He
obviously only heard that he could drink a beer with the
neighbour.”
hang..out…drink…all day…
and then rest
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THE ART
OF SOUND
Award-winning artist Jacob Kirkegaard exposes us to
the potential of sounds that are hidden - where the
inaudible is audible and the unheard is heard.
installation that amplified the sounds and reverberations of the
columns in a gallery in Manhattan, essentially turning them into
a series of loudspeakers. “For ‘Broadway’ I recorded the subtle
vibration of the columns going through the whole building,” he
explains. “The columns were resonating with the traffic from
the street and the subway underneath it, each creating its own
very subtle tone. I picked up these tones with an accelerometer - a very sensitive vibration sensor – and isolated them from
other noise and played them back into the columns using contact speakers. Playing back their own tones basically amplified
their own resonant spectrum and thereby made each column
‘sing’ in their own tones out into the gallery space. Their own
unheard tones were now heard through the room.” Hear yourself hearing
For Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard, sound is not just
what we hear. “I am interested in discovering sound from
unheard perspectives,” he says. “To question sounds we immediately take for granted as we hear them. I like to think that
sound has a surface as well as an inside and an outside, and
that it all depends on how we listen and what media or method
we use for capturing or perceiving sound. That means that the
sound we hear might not be the only way it sounds like.”
This approach is reflected in his highly acclaimed work.
Throughout compositions, installations and performances,
he uses a disparate range of tools such as electro-magnetic
receivers, ultra-sound detectors and acoustical microphones
to detect and create sounds from different environments –
abandoned nuclear power plants, volcanoes, the ice of a frozen
lake, empty rooms, even his own ear. As Jacob puts it, he
records “spaces, matter or phenomena in unusual ways and try
to give them new meanings by conceptualising them.”
Collaborator with sound
Essential to the success of these projects is the way Jacob
interacts with the sounds he records. “I like to see myself as a
collaborator with the sound,” he says. “As opposed to a classical composer (Jacob has studied classical Cello) who wants
to be in total control over the sounds he is creating, I wish to
interact with the sounds I am recording and be less in control.
In this way I work a lot with layering and mirroring of sound.”
A case in point is his piece entitled ‘Broadway’, a live sound
Our sense of hearing is not just physical but also psychological;
how we perceive sounds differs from person to person. This
perception of sounds is central to much of Jacob’s work and
perhaps nowhere more so than in ‘Labyrinthitis’, a piece that
used tones generated in his own ears. When two tones were
played into the ear, a third tone was produced by the ear itself.
As these tones were played to the audience, yet more tones
were audible and layer upon layer, Jacob created a unique
composition explicitly involving both himself and the audience
listening to themselves listening, as it were.
“I thought that this was a wild paradox, listening to our own
ears,” says Jacob. With help from the Technical University of
Denmark, Jacob’s ears were played to “trigger an otoacoustic
emission, or another tone, in my cochlea. When these two
tones were played into my ears, I discovered that I could hear
the 3rd tone; I found out that I could hear my own ear play the
responding tone. So I could hear myself hearing!”
“The piece I created was then based on the recordings of my
own ear tones. In this way I use my ear tones to evoke ear
tones in the ears of the listener. A double paradox, which always triggers many interesting discussions with the audiences
after listening to it. Once I played it for a group of retired B&O
workers and one of them had a hearing loss. He told me that
he had heard sounds that he hadn´t heard for years.” The only kind of silence is inattentiveness
Common to all Jacob’s work is a sense that true silence does
not exist. “Since our ears can’t block off like our eyes can - and
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since we cannot turn off all sound at night like we can turn off
the light, I think that we tend to mentally ignore a lot of background noise,” he says. “In this way it can be harder to appreciate sound as well, because we’re not so much in control over
it. So taking sound for granted basically means not to believe
in silence. There is always sound.”
Being attentive to sound can also affect our sense of hearing.
“I’ve heard that to say that someone has good hearing doesn’t
necessarily mean that the ear physically works well but that it
indeed also has to do with how attentive, aware and interested
we are in sound,” says Jacob.
ABOUT JACOB
Jacob Kirkegaard is a graduate of the Academy for Media Arts in
Cologne in Germany. His work has been exhibited throughout the
world including the James Cohan Gallery and Diapason in New
York, the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles and the
Museum of Contemporary Art in Denmark. He has also released
five albums and is a member of the sound art collective freq_out.
Sound has always fascinated Jacob: “Sound has interested me
for as long as I can remember. My first memories were related to
radio. My dad had bought an old one with a short-wave band and
I recall the vivid mix of noise, Morse signals and music from very
distant countries; especially how the signal got stronger after sunset. I remember imagining that the sound was travelling physically
from far away through all kinds of weather to get here.”
“I also had a walkie-talkie - the ones for kids connected with a
cable. I remember placing one of them in the other room without
my parents knowing of it. When I pressed the ‘listen’ button inside
my own room, I could hear the sound of the other room. I was very
young but I clearly remember the seemingly silent sound of the
other room.” www.fonik.dk
Section headline
Society
SOUND Design
Sound is psychological because it shapes everything we experience. So says one of Denmark’s
best sound designers, who uses sound to create atmosphere in the theatre and musicals.
Society
“It is in the interaction with the whole of our existence that
sound really comes into its own,” says sound designer Claus
Wolter. “Sound can create or change an atmosphere and
provide your surroundings with new meaning in a way other
effects cannot. Therefore, sound is always in my world.”
Claus has worked colouring the world with sound since 1970.
His extensive background includes stints as chief sound engineer at the Royal Danish Theatre and working on acclaimed
musicals such as ‘Atlantis’ and ‘Les Miserables’. Today LISTEN
meets him in a large circus tent where he is responsible for
providing the best sound experience possible for the audience
at the famous ‘Cirkusrevy’ at Bakken outside Copenhagen.
Psychological sound
According to Claus, the fascinating thing about sound is that
it always affects us. This is clearly evident in the way Claus’
upper body dances to the music as he works the controls of
his mixing desk in the circus tent. He will have worked his way
through more than 130 different music clips and effects before
the end of this evening’s show.
“I love my work,” he says. “Up here at the sound desk I can
decide how 1300 people in the audience should think. Sound
can be incredibly manipulative and really decisive in how we
experience other things. The same gestures on the stage can
be perceived differently depending on if I play a brisk polka or
a quiet soundscape.”
“It is often a special type of person who works with sound.
They are often people who are very sensitive and can intuitively feel or notice how others are or are feeling. And of course,
there are also people who think it is exciting that the technology behind the sound can mean as much as it does. I can be
totally fascinated by all types of music if they are well made or
produced… it can get directly inside me,” he says.
Good sound environment
Claus is also a demanding listener. When he works with creating sound for a performance, he constantly involves actors,
stage hands or anyone in the vicinity to take notice of what
they are hearing. The more people who open their ears to the
challenges and possibilities different sounds present, the better.
“Unfortunately, there are too many people who find themselves surrounded by the wrong type of sound. Things like
ventilation systems and other noisy sources of noise do not
create a good sound environment. On the contrary. I don’t
think one should undervalue how harmful sound can be. Just
think of how it can be used for torture. It is important that we
all take responsibility for getting the best sound in our lives,”
says Claus.
“The best sound is the sound that gets you to feel something.
Once, a director asked me to create the sound of a ‘twisted
tree with dead leaves’! It was to create a mood in a play where
uneasiness should creep down the spine of those in the audience. In the same way, acousticians work with sound to ensure
that we get the right experience – for example, when we shut
the door of a nice sports car. It should sound exclusive and
expensive.”
Receptive and sensitive
Even though we all live with sound and are highly influenced
by it, some people are more sensitive to sound than others.
Many of Claus Wolter’s colleagues in the sound branch have an
incredibly good ear and a feeling for what makes sound and its
effects all come together.
“Always try to listen to the very small sounds as well; they can make life
an even bigger adventure”
Society
Society
SOUND GARDEN
A garden can be more than a visual experience. It can
also help people appreciate the sounds around them.
We take the sounds around us for granted. A garden, for example, is so much more than simply a visual pleasure. According to Selina Botham, award-winning garden designer, “Being
in a garden, immersed in a full sensory experience is one of the
great pleasures of life.”
Her sound garden, sponsored by Widex, won the best in show
at the prestigious Hampton Court Flower Show in 2008. The
idea behind the garden was to highlight the contribution sound
makes to our natural environment, as well as to celebrate
the everyday sounds that are important to our enjoyment of
the world around us. Apart from featuring sustainable plants
and trees, the garden contained an interactive ‘listening wall’
where visitors could experience various garden sounds.
Hearing a key sense
First garden
What makes Selina’s achievements even more remarkable is
that she is a relative newcomer. “I graduated in garden design
in 2007 and the Widex garden was my first show garden. I
think everyone – including me – was surprised that I got gold
and best in show for my first attempt!”
“The project was fascinating to me and I learned a lot about
hearing from the various experts who helped on the garden
during the week. I was shocked to find out how iPods and earphones which go right into the ear will be causing permanent
damage to the hearing of many teenagers and other music
lovers. The temptation is to listen to music far too loud in order
to drown out other unwanted sound, consequently the damage
will be very severe in later life,” she says.
“Listening to natural sound in your garden is much safer!”
www.designsforallseasons.co.uk
The idea for the garden came to Selina when one day she
realised how little she noticed the sounds in her own garden. “I
started thinking about what it is that makes gardens so special
and so different from being inside, and of course sound is a key
difference,” she says. “I wanted to celebrate and draw attention
to the importance of sound – hearing is such a key sense.”
The listening wall was meant as a way of creating awareness
of our hearing ability, and made listeners aware of the difference a digital hearing aid can make to those with hearing loss.
“My idea was to highlight sounds in the garden so that people
noticed them, identified them and celebrated them,” says
Selina. “I think many people take sound for granted and it’s not
till they experience hearing loss that they appreciate what they
had, and even then I think it can be a gradual decline.”
The design and the use of plants in the garden also provided
a gentle tapestry of sounds - from willow and eucalyptus to
water pool feature, the effect was to highlight the understated
role sound plays in our environment.
The Sound Garden was a hands-on experience
Wax guard filter
The Hearing Aid
Loudspeaker / Receiver
The inside of a hearing aid varies depending on type and model. Generally though, it consists of the following components:
The microphone picks up sounds from the environment and
sends them to the signal processor. The microphone is basically a device that converts sound into an electrical signal that
the hearing aid can process.
The signal processor works as an amplifier. Here, the sounds
are amplified according to the settings matching the individual
hearing loss and needs of the user. The amplifier contains most
of the hearing aid’s electronic components and circuits. It processes the incoming sound in accordance with individual user
settings in order to provide the most natural sound.
Some hearing aids have a telecoil, which can be used in
theatres, churches and other places with a loop system. When
the telecoil function is activated, sound sent through the loop
system is amplified.
At the bottom of the hearing aid is an antenna. This makes it
possible to receive sound from a television or mobile phone
using one of Widex’ DEX assistive listening devices. The antenna also allows two hearing aids to communicate with each
other.
Microphone
Telecoil
Microphone
Program button
Shell / housing
Antenna
Signal processor / Amplifier
Battery
The loudspeaker is also called the receiver and sends the
amplified sounds to the user’s ear. The receiver converts the
amplified electrical signal into sound. The maximum output
level that can be generated by a receiver depends on its physical size. Therefore, a severe hearing loss usually requires a
larger model of hearing aid.
The receiver is equipped with a small wax guard filter that
helps prevent moisture and ear wax from entering the hearing
aid.
The battery supplies the hearing aid with power.
The casing surrounding the hearing aid is called the shell or
housing. Not only does it protect the hearing aid, but it is also
designed to prevent unwanted noise such as wind – the top
of the shell features a nano-coated wind cover protecting the
hearing aid from wind and moisture.
Widex hearing aids can be programmed to have several settings for various listening situations (such as the Zen program,
designed to provide relief to tinnitus patients for example). Using a remote control, the user can switch between the settings
and also control the volume of the hearing aid. Some models
also have a program button on the hearing aid for the few
times where the master program is not sufficient.
Trends
HAPPY WITH YOUR HEARING AID?
The recently published EuroTrak study is the biggest consumer survey of attitudes to and awareness of hearing
impairment and hearing aids in Europe. Over 44,000 people were contacted across France, Germany and the UK.
So what does EuroTrak tell us? Firstly, that most people are
satisfied with their hearing aids and the benefits they get from
them – and also that these levels of satisfaction are growing.
The rates of satisfaction are high, especially for the newer
hearing aids that are less than five years old. Across France,
Germany and the UK the average rate of satisfaction is 83%.
This is close to those found in the USA (79%), where similar
studies have been undertaken for many years.
Some have asked whether 83% is a good enough rate or not –
let’s face it, by the same criteria this means 17% of hearing aid
wearers are unsatisfied. So how do these levels of satisfaction
compare to measured rates for other products and services?
High customer satisfaction
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is the best
place to go to make comparisons. ACSI interviews 80,000
Americans annually asking them about their opinion of the
goods and services they have consumed.
Trends
Figures published by ACSI in 2010 on levels of consumer satisfaction in a range of sectors were as follows (the figure quoted
is the average across US companies measured): airlines 68%,
hotels 75%, computer software 76%, energy utilities 74%, hospitals 73%, health insurance 73%. Food products rate higher
(average across companies measured was 81%) with beer rates
at 82%. By that comparison hearing aids seem to be doing
remarkably well.
The increased functionality of the new digital hearing aid
models is overcoming many of the more challenging listening environments, such as being able to hear speech clearly
on the phone and to understand conversation in noisy places.
But the manufacturers and audiology profession acknowledge
that more needs to be done in this area, which is why Widex is
investing millions in product development.
Hearing aid benefits
EuroTrak participants rated the changes in their lives they had
experienced through wearing their hearing aid. The following
aspects were either ‘better’ or ‘a lot better’ (figures provided
are average percentages across the three countries).
Being able to communicate more effectively (71%), improved
social life (61%), better relationships at home (57%) and being
better able to participate in group activities (62%).
Hearing aids used longer
Increasing satisfaction in varying hearing environments might
explain the much better than expected regular usage figures
recorded. Just 7% in the UK (6% in France, 5% in Germany) of
aid wearers do not use them regularly which means, conversely, that over 90% DO.
Trends
Millions in Europe cannot hear properly
So the vast majority of hearing aid wearers are satisfied with
their aids and experience significant improvements to their
quality of life. But there are large numbers of people (over
3.4 million in the UK alone according to EuroTrak) who have a
hearing impairment and might benefit from wearing an aid.
EuroTrak asked some of these hearing impaired, non-wearers
why they did not get a hearing aid. Some of the top reasons
given were:
“I hear well enough in most situations”
“Hearing aids do not restore your hearing to normal”
“They are uncomfortable”
“Hearing aids do not work well in noisy situations”
“Would be embarrassed to wear hearing aids”
“I do not admit to having a hearing loss in public”
“I have not had my hearing tested yet”
most of these preconceived notions as self-denial. They certainly do not reflect an accurate insight into the benefits that
the latest digital hearing aids can deliver.
Be an ambassador
Hearing impairment that remains undiagnosed can lead to
some serious consequences. A recent academic study suggests sufferers can be battling with isolation, withdrawal, problems at work, depression, low self-esteem and a host of other
negative consequences *.
So it’s the job of happy hearing aid wearers, and especially
Widex customers, to be evangelical in their support of hearing
aids. We need to communicate the benefits and help fellow
hearing impaired to see that their quality of life can be significantly improved.
So please, get out there and tell them……………
Prof Adrian Davis, the UK’s leading researcher into hearing loss
and a government advisor on hearing impairment, describes
Detailed Satisfaction Rates
LISTENING SITUATIONS
One to one conversations
Watching TV
G F UKUSA
80918391
72788780
PRODUCT FEATURES
Reliability
Overall comfort / fit
72788282
64758387
Examples from the EuroTrak study of more detailed levels of satisfaction of the dispensing process, listening situations and hearing
aid product features.
EuroTrak was designed and executed by market research company Anovum on
behalf of the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA), of
which Widex is a member.
*: ” Evaluation of the social and economic costs of hearing impairment” by London
South Bank University / Professor Bridget Shield
JUST LIKE A MOBILE PHONE,
BUT BETTER
M-DEX looks like a mobile phone and for hearing aid users it functions in pretty much the same way – just smarter. With M-DEX you can receive telephone conversations directly into the ear and that is an advantage that users
are enthusiastic about.
“I always have my hearing aids on,” says Jørn Ravn, a test person for Widex’ new CLEAR hearing aids. “They give a natural
sound that I don’t want to do without at any time. Because it is
so important for me, it is also smart that it is so easy to adjust
so I can always get the most out of it.”
Jørn Ravn has an M-DEX assistive listening device – an advanced remote control that connects his CLEAR hearing aids
with his mobile phone so he can hear people on that other end
directly in his ears.
1. The Room Off function turns the hearing aids’ microphones
off temporarily so you can only hear your mobile - allowing
you to concentrate on the conversation without being disturbed by surrounding sounds.
2. The M-DEX can also be used as an advanced remote control
for volume control and program shift.
3. FreeFocus mode lets you focus in selected directions, such
as left, right and behind, without having to turn your head.
”It took me a while to get hearing aids,” he says. “It was a
handicap I had to admit both to the world and myself. But I am
glad that I have got the help that has given me back my hearing. And I think M-DEX is fascinating because it has actually
turned my ‘handicap’ into an advantage,” he says.
This is how it works
The M-DEX is compatible with most mobile phones and
reproduces phone conversations directly in your hearing aid.
Besides that, there are three more features that make the MDEX a natural choice of accessory for hearing aids.
2.
3.
1.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
1. On/off 2. Colour display 3. Accept call 4. End call 5. Navigation keys
6. Menu 7. Room Off 8. FreeFocus
Section headline
AWARD WINNING
PLAY EXPLORES
HEARING IMPAIRMENT
Last year’s resounding London theatre hit was a new
play about hearing impairment.
Society
‘Tribes’, the latest work by playwright Nina Raine, featured a
young hearing impaired character as the main protagonist.
‘Tribes’ won the prestigious Best New Play, Off West End Theatre Awards, 2010.
“It was very moving,” Nina says. “Lots of people came up to
me and thanked me. One deaf girl from a hearing family said
that the first scene reminded her of every family Christmas
dinner she had ever had. I also got letters.”
It was described as ‘a penetrating play about belonging, family
and the limitations of communication.’ It features Billy whose
family is like others the world over – with their own jokes,
language and rules. The family can be possessive, critical, argumentative and most of all rude. But the deaf member of this
family – Billy - is the only one really listening!
The run at the Royal Court is over, but ‘Tribes’ will be on again
soon. There will be productions in Melbourne and New York in
February 2012. The play has also been translated into German
so, fingers crossed it will be put on there too!
In the meantime you can buy copies of the script from
www.nickhernbooks.co.uk
It took Nina three years to write ‘Tribes’, but why did she want
to write about a hearing impaired character in particular?
“It’s hard to say where the idea of writing about a hearing
impaired person came from,” answered Nina. “I was interested
in deafness both in real terms and as a metaphor for someone
who doesn’t fit into their family in a verbal and intellectual
way. Lots of families have a member that’s disconnected in
some ways, but making the character deaf meant I could show
in a heightened manner the way we don’t always communicate
successfully. It also meant I could play with ideas about listening and not listening or just levels of perception. I was interested in the idea that the deaf character might ‘listen’ much more
carefully than the rest of his family, who were actually more
emotionally ‘deaf’ than he was.”
WHAT THE REVIEWERS SAID
- ‘At once funny and piercingly painful... Raine writes with a
marvelous mixture of wit and empathy... as moving as anything I have seen in the theatre this year’ Telegraph
- ‘fiercely intelligent, caustically funny and emotionally
wrenching’ Independent
- ‘razor-sharp as well as utterly credible’ London Evening
Standard
- ‘edgy, painful and shocking’ Financial Times
ABOUT NINA RAINE
Nina continues: “In fact, there is a second deaf character in the
play – Sylvia who is going deaf. That part allowed me to explore our idea of ourselves and how much identity is bound up
with our ability. Once you lose an ability – such as the ability to
hear - what effect does that have on your personality and your
sense of self?”
Nina Raine is the daughter of British poet Craig Raine.
Actress Michelle Terry won an Olivier Award for her portrayal
of Sylvia.
Nina has directed a number of plays in various theatres including
‘Unprotected’ at the Liverpool Everyman and the Edinburgh Festival and ‘Shades’ at the Royal Court Young Writers Festival.
There was positive feedback from hearing impaired theatregoers. The overwhelming majority were thrilled that someone
was bothering to write about them and their experiences.
After graduating from Oxford in 1998, she quickly established
herself in the UK theatre scene, winning the Channel 4 / Jerwood
Space Young Theatre Director Bursary to train as a director at the
Royal Court Theatre – the UK home of new contemporary and
innovative theatre.
She started penning her own plays in 2006 with the acclaimed
‘Rabbit’. The same year she was awarded the London Evening
Standard’s Charles Wintour Award and Critics Circle awards for
Most Promising Playwrite.
Her latest play – ‘Tiger Country’ – opened in January 2011.
THE ACCIDENTAL AUDIOLOGIST
The new general manager of Widex New Zealand,
Nigel Sallis, is an audiologist. Nigel came into the
profession by chance, but today he is in no doubt that
being able to make a difference in people’s lives means
he has one of the world’s best jobs.
According to Nigel Sallis, who became head of Widex’ subsidiary in New Zealand in April 2011, customers are the best part
of the job. “It is fantastic to experience how both children and
adults get a whole new life when they get the correct hearing
aids,” he says. “I meet a wide range of people – from the elderly with exciting stories to tell, to dedicated professionals in
hospitals and clinics around the country. This makes for a very
satisfying working day.”
Originally, Nigel studied anatomy and human biology at
Otago University. But a visit to a hearing clinic persuaded him
to change course. Being a keen musician, as well as a skeet
shooter, meant that Nigel needed custom ear plugs; the visit to
the clinic gave him a first-hand look at sound technology and
inspired him to specialise in audiology.
“It looked a bit like a sound studio so I saw an opportunity to
combine my academic knowledge of people with an interest
in audio and sound. It was a choice I have never regretted,” he
says.
Shoes that don’t fit
It was definitely no coincidence that Nigel chose to work for
Widex though. The company’s strong family values, a focus on
employees’ job satisfaction and in particular its technological
breakthroughs, all made a strong impression.
“The most important thing for me in this job is that I believe
in what I am selling,” he says. “With Widex products I can because they can do so much. I usually say to people that they
should make sure to find exactly the right hearing aid with exactly the right fitting; otherwise it’s like going around in shoes
that don’t fit. They just won’t work properly.”
“Widex’ values and products motivate me and my colleagues
to work hard in spreading the word to even more people about
the possibilities to be found with Widex hearing aids. The goal
of Widex New Zealand is to obtain more customers from hearing clinics and hospitals and to ensure their staff know how to
get the best sound experience for users,” says Nigel.
NEW ZEALAND FACT FILE
Full name: Population: Capital: Area: Major languages: Major religions: Number of sheep: Life expectancy: Main exports: New Zealand
4.3 million (UN, 2010)
Wellington
270,534 sq km
English, Maori
Christianity, Rugby Union
40 million
79 years (men), 83 years (women) (UN)
wool, food and dairy products, wood
and paper
Widex New Zealand became a subsidiary of Widex A/S in April
2010 and employs 14 people. Nigel Sallis has been with the company for five years.
CHILE
Widex opened its first Latin American subsidiary in
Chile in December, 2010. At the helm is audiologist
and MBA Andrea Sepúlveda, who, together with a staff
of six, is working hard to give Widex the place in the
Chilean market it deserves.
Widex Chile got off to a somewhat unusual start. When Mike
Dittman and Palle Gammelmark from Widex headquarters met
with Andrea Sepúlveda in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to discuss
establishing the new subsidiary, little did they know that they
were about to be caught in the middle of a drug war.
As Andrea was preparing for the meeting in her hotel, she
heard an extremely strange and unrecognisable sound. “A
garbage truck was parked under my window,” says Andrea
with a smile. “I thought that it was perhaps this that made all
the noise so I drew the curtains and shut the window.” Without
thinking more about it, she hurried off to the meeting. At some
point though, a Widex agent came rushing in to warn them
that drug traffickers had taken over the hotel and were shooting each other and anyone else who happened to be in the
way. The sounds they had heard were in fact machine gunfire.
Like a film
While the police tried to get the situation under control, hotel
guests were asked to wait under the stairs – a wait that came
to last several hours. As Andrea recounts, you “could establish
a little more human relationship with each other compared to
the normal business-like situation – we were all together in the
same boat and none of us would come to forget this day.” She
describes the episode as “something you experience in a film
and unfortunately there were people who died that day. So I
can say that Widex Chile had an extremely difficult birth.”
Widex Chile
Fortunately, everyday life at Widex Chile has proven to be a
quieter affair. To a large extent, Andrea has chosen to run
Widex Chile in the same way as other Widex subsidiaries. All
her staff of five are familiar with Widex products and several
have also worked together before. They were in no doubt
about coming to work for Andrea and Widex.
Besides working well together, they are also involved actively
in the decision making process. “I don’t know everything so
I like the fact that we talk together about things before we
start working on large projects,” says Andrea. “They give more
of themselves when they are asked for their opinion.” In this
respect, Widex Chile is almost revolutionary as most management in South American countries is more hierarchical.
Building the brand
On average, adults with hearing loss in Chile wait two to three
years before they seek help and acquire a hearing aid, but
thanks to models such as Widex Passion and mind440 it has
become easier to persuade them of the advantages of a hearing aid. mind440 in particular is expected to be a big success.
“We have some mind440 models we lent to users; they could
see that it was a great hearing aid…that could also help problems with tinnitus,” says Andrea.
Widex is already an established brand among ENT doctors and
audiologists, but until now the company has not had a large
presence in the Chilean market. Now it’s up to Andrea and her
team to spread the word about Widex. With hearing care professionals already referring clients to Widex Chile, the future
looks bright.
Not affected by the financial crisis
Chile is one of the few places not affected by the global financial crisis that has plagued so many countries. In fact things
are going so well that according to many economists, Chile will
become a developed country by 2018.
A distinct advantage for companies operating in Chile is the
lack of unnecessary bureaucracy. “If I order CLEAR hearing
aids then I don’t have to worry about permission and customs
papers, I order them and I get them without any bother. That’s
a big relief,” says Andrea.
Every year around 47,000 hearing aids are sold in Chile. In
2010, Widex’ market share was relatively small so the potential is huge. The goal of Widex Chile is to increase this share
significantly to become one of the market leaders. One of the
biggest players in the market is the government; it provides
help for groups such as the elderly and newborn babies who
suffer from hearing loss. So it is important that Widex Chile is
taken into consideration as a supplier to public and government institutions.
CHILE FACT FILE
Full name:
Population: Capital: Area: Major languages: Major religions: Football ranking:
Life expectancy: Main exports: Republic of Chile
17.1 million (UN, 2010)
Santiago de Chile
756,096 sq km
Spanish
Christianity
27 (FIFA football world ranking)
76 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN)
copper, fish, fruit, paper and pulp, wine
Travel tips
According to Andrea, you can experience a bit of everything
in Chile. “Chile is several thousand kilometres long so we have
all types of landscape – from the driest desert to the coldest
glaciers.” LISTEN asked Andrea to choose three places that are
characteristic of Chile.
Easter Island (or Rapa Nui in Polynesian): This triangularshaped, volcanic island lies some 3600 kilometres off the
Chilean coast. It is perhaps most famous for its large stone
statues (called ‘moai’) which were carved out of the volcanic
stone between 1250 and 1500. Although the island is part
of Chile, the population is made up of people of Polynesian
descent, a fact which can be seen clearly in the appearance of
the statues. There are many archaeological finds to delight the
budding Indiana Jones.
Atacama Desert: The tiny town of San Pedro de Atacama is
situated in one of the driest locations on earth. If you take a
trip there, then be prepared - because you may get altitude
sickness! When you have got used to the height, there are
numerous attractions – incredible views of the stars at night,
sandboarding, native ruins and outstanding museums.
Patagonia and the glaciers: If you enjoy being active, then you
will love trekking in the Chilean glaciers. Here you can experience nature so spectacular that it can’t be seen anywhere else
– endless forests, gigantic lakes and ice…a lot of ice of course.
You can also sail and whale watch.
ALGERIA Widex Algérie eurl
ARGENTINA Widex Argentina SA
AUSTRALIA Widex Australia Pty Ltd
AUSTRIA Neuroth AG
BELARUS LTD Arnikatrade
BELGIUM Veranneman b.v.b.a.
BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA
Widex Slusni Aparati d.o.o.
BRAZIL Centro Auditivo
Widex Brasitom Ltda.
BULGARIA ANKA - Anka Peeva
CANADA Widex Canada Ltd.
CHILE Widex Chile
CHINA Widex Hearing Aid
(Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
COLOMBIA Widex Colombia
COSTA RICA Tecnomédica S.A.,
Clínica Dinamarca
CROATIA Microton d.o.o.
CYPRUS CH & M Cyprus
Audiology Center
CZECH REPUBLIC Widex Line s.r.o.
DENMARK Widex DK A/S
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, the
Widex Dominicana
ECUADOR Guillermo Muñoz Robles
EGYPT Widex-Egypt
ESTONIA Indium Ltd.
FINLAND Widex Akustik OY
FRANCE Widex France
F.Y.R.O.M Otomedical Skopje
GERMANY Widex Hörgeräte GmbH
GHANA Krispat Ear Center
GREECE D. Chryssikos & Co.
GUYANA Roger Viapree
HONG KONG Widex Hong Kong
Hearing & Speech Centre Ltd.
HUNGARY Widex-H Kft.
INDIA Widex India Private Limited
INDONESIA Melawai Hearing Aid
IRAN Persia Samak Newshan
IRELAND Widex Ireland Ltd.
ISRAEL Steiner Hearing Instruments
ITALY Widex Italia S.P.A
JAMAICA Siredan Enterprises Ltd.
dba Caribbean Hearing Center
JAPAN Widex Co., Ltd.
JORDAN Queen Alia Foundation for
Hearing and Speech
KAZAKHSTAN Almaton-2
KENYA Beam Hearing Centre
KOREA Widex Korea Ltd.
Kosovo N.T.SH. “QUENDRA E
DEGJIMIT”
KUWAIT Al-Shammary
Hearing Center
LATVIA SIA Dzirdes Serviss
LEBANON Beeco Speech & Hearing Center
LIBYA Widex Libya
LITHUANIA Surdotechnika JSC
LITHUANIA UAB Audiofon
MALAYSIA Top Hearing Care Centre
MALTA Beacon Healthcare Ltd.
MEXICO Distribuidora de Equipo
Audiológico S.A. de C.V.
MONGOLIA Mon-Anir Co., Ltd.
MOROCCO Widex Maroc
NAMIBIA Windhoek Hearing Aids
NETHERLANDS Veenhuis Medical Audio B.V.
NEW ZEALAND Widex New Zealand Ltd.
NORWAY Medisan A/S
OMAN, Sultanate of
National Optical Centre
PAKISTAN Rehabilitation Centre
for Hearing Impaired
PANAMA Widex Panama
PARAGUAY Centro Auditivo SRL
PERU Panadex S.A.
PHILIPPINES Ledesma
Audiological Center
POLAND Widex Polska Sp. z.o.o.
PORTUGAL Widex - Reabilitação
Auditiva, Lda.
ROMANIA Sonorom SRL
RUSSIA 000 “Widex”
SAUDI ARABIA Basha Medical Group
SERBIA OPTICUS d.o.o.
SINGAPORE Widex Singapore Pte Ltd
SLOVAKIA Slovtón
SLOVENIA Slusni Aparati - Widex d.o.o.
SOUTH AFRICA Widex South Africa
SPAIN Widex Audífonos S.A.
SRI LANKA D.S. Jayasinghe Opticians
(Pvt) Ltd.
SUDAN Sudanese Hearing Center
SWEDEN AB Widex
SWITZERLAND Widex Hörgeräte AG
SYRIA TEBA Medical Equipment
TAIWAN Melody Medical Instrument Corp
THAILAND D MED Hearing Center Co,.Ltd.
TUNISIA C. M. Acoustiques
TURKEY Elektromediks Karabeyoğlu Ltd.
UKRAINE ReOton
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Widex Emirates
Hearing Care
UNITED KINGDOM Widex UK
URUGUAY Audilux
USA Widex USA
VENEZUELA Instituto Auditivo Widex S.A.
VIETNAM QUANG DUC HEARING
SERVICES Co., Ltd.
YEMEN National Hearing Center

THE Art OF SOUND

Transcription

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