There is always a market for customization, from customizing the leather color for high end luxuary cars to a customized avatar in the virtual world of Second Life because everyone wants to be unique. A Canadian company has introduced custom-made ear buds that plug the person’s ears completely as to block out any external noise.
Such customization comes with a cost of $199CAD (since its a Canadian company, I assume it charges CAD) which is roughly ten times more expensive than tradiation ear buds (my JVC ear buds cost me around $15CAD after tax). This company has been utilizing the same technology for producing hearing protection for industry workers and now they are applying this for everyday use.
The technique for creating custom-made ear buds is really simple as well, it involves filling a membrane fitted in each ear with silicone that forms into exact shape of the person’s ears. Within minutes the person can have his/her own custom-made ear buds.
In the future, I hope there will be flexible ear buds as oppose to just customizable ones where a person does not have to have his/her ears filled with silicone, not that it can damage that person’s ears but rather to save both the customer’s and company’s time. I think it will elimiate the need of that fitting step and potentially cut the cost of the ear buds. My idea of flexible ear buds would be ones that can enlarge or contract based on a person’s ear size. Not sure hot it will work, if I did I would have proposed to the company. But I am pretty sure this idea is being looked at.
Source from: thestar.com
