AQUAPHONIC ELLIS MINTO PRODUCT DESIGN HONOURS PROJECT - Aquaphonic Product Booklet
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AQUAPHONIC ELLIS MINTO PRODUCT DESIGN HONOURS PROJECT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS
Academic Staff:
Andrew Cook - Social Digital Lecturer, University of
Dundee
Graham Pullin - Product Design Lecturer, University of
Dundee
Rob Jackson - Workshop Support Specialist, University of INTRODUCTION 4-7
Dundee
Ali Napier - Workshop Support Specialist, University of
Dundee
RESEARCH 9-19
Speedo:
Thanks to Speedo for allowing me to use their brand
name and logo in this project.
IDEA GENERATION 21-41
Interviewee:
Rhiannon Minto - Sister and Hearing Aid Wearer
Your knowledge and experience with hearing aids and DEVELOPMENT 43-53
sports have driven this project’s decisions from start to
finish. This wouldn’t have been possible without your
invaluable insight.
CARRY CASE 55-67
Special Thanks:
Having worked from home the majority of my final year in
Dundee due to Covid-19, I have been extremely lucky to
have such an incredible group of friends and family in my MANUFACTURE 69-75
support system.
I’d like to give a massive thanks to the rag-tag group of
friends I’ve met in my four years of study, Athol Shepherd
(Piccolo Dundee) for keeping the lights on and funding my AQUAPHONIC 77-90
lavish lifestyle, my mum and dad for allowing me some
much-needed couch vacations, and my girlfriend Sammi
for putting up with me all this time.
WHAT? ABOUT ME
Aquaphonic is a waterproof, rechargeable BTE
hearing aid, with an accompanying dry box
and charging case, that enables wearers to
swim without sacrificing their hearing. Through
texture, material and form, Aquaphonic is Hi, I’m Ellis, a Product Designer with a passion for design for disability and
designed to fit in with existing swimming people centred design. I believe that good products are made by the
equipment and attire, for a low-profile people that use them and strive to include different perspectives where
alternative to the existing beige hearing aids. I can. I am hardworking and methodical with a love for problem solving,
sketching and learning new skills and techniques.
WHY? Why this project is important to me.
Hearing aid wearers are often discouraged from My sister has dealt with hearing loss and worn a hearing aid for most of her
partaking in sports by the fear of damaging their life. Because of this, (and my left handedness to a lesser extent)
hearing aids, and nowhere is this clearer than accessibility and inclusivity are extremely important to me, and this project
in water. Creating a waterproof hearing aid will has been an opportunity for me to express this.
allow wearers to engage in water-based
activities without fear of damaging their This booklet is a guide to my motivations, thought process, and practices
equipment, and ensure they are not throughout this project.
excluded from social elements while doing so.
Contact Details:
Ellisminto@gmail.com
Instagram: @ellis_minto
4 5
BRIEF Explore the viability of dedicated hearing aids for sports, using the existing design language of sporting equiptment. 6 7
1.
RESEARCH
Having a younger sister aids loose, take them out
with hearing loss meant if you’re concerned about
that I was already aware moisture, carry spare
that there are young batteries, don’t get them
people who wear hearing wet, don’t feed them
aids. But upon research I after midnight etc... Thoughts:
was shocked to find that
there are over 50,000 The limitations seemed Can I create a kit of
children with hearing loss endless and potential- accessories that
in the UK alone. With ly isolating for a young ensure the safety of
this information I began person who wants to hearing aids during
exploring the different live an active lifestyle
exercise?
needs faced by young- and partake in said
er hearing aid wearers. activities with friends.
Further reading Can secondary
Whilst doing this I indicated that young functions such as
realised the main people are often Bluetooth enhance
trends were, battery life, discouraged from sports exercise with
moisture, interference, and exercise entirely by hearing aids?
and maintaining an the fear of damaging their
active lifestyle. Every hearing aids. This could Can moisture
time I encountered these be from contact, falling, resistant materials
problems, the solutions moisture or dirt etc... or dry boxes help?
were almost always
at the detriment of the
wearer, ie. don’t wear
hoodies because they
can knock your hearing 9
INTERVIEW various hearing aid
distributors and
headings:
Maintenance, Patient -
more important I deemed
them for this project.
hearing loss charities, Doctor Communications, By the end I was able to
Talking with the people I and receiving many Psychological and create a hierarchy of
intend to design with is rejections, I was Social Issues, Additional insights and use these to Thoughts:
extremely important to extremely grateful to be Functionality, Water, shape the project going
me, as their unique able to interview my Damage, and Additional forward.
perspectives are far Streamlining the maintenance
sister, Rhiannon, about Issues.
more valuable than my process could encourage wearers to
her experiences with
own or anything I can partake in sports.
hearing aids and being Each insight could have
acquire from secondary active as a wearer. This been a project in it’s own
research. interview proved right and it was apparent Robust materials and solid crafting
invaluable as the project that I had to narrow down to create a visibly reliable product to
Unfortunately, due to developed and was what was important to put the wearer at ease.
Covid-19 and the many referenced regularly. this project in particular.
resulting lockdowns To do this I used a Moisture and water damage need to
people were less From this I was able to bullseye diagram. The be addressed in hearing aids in order
available for interviews. isolate key insights and closer items are to the
After reaching out to
for them to viable in sports.
group them under the centre of the diagram the
10 11
SIMULATION
In order to contextualise the insights I recieved from Rhiannon, and to
further empathise with the people I’m designing for, I partook in some
simulation exercises.
Simulation exercises are intended to approximate the human or
environmental conditions, in order to forge a deeper understanding of
real-life experiences. For me this meant wearing a hearing aid for a week
and taking an “unfair hearing test”.
INSIGHTS
Fiddly batteries - not ideal for people with lower dexterity.
WEARING A HEARING AID Moisture - exercise did cause moisture build up from sweat and humidity.
Earphones - can only use one earphone which isnt ideal when songs
I wore a hearing aid that I bought online for a play in stereo (missing half the audio)
week, during this time I forced myself to work
out to see if moisture woud build up or the Earbuds - The silicone earbuds dug into my ear on longer days which
hearing aid would fall out. I also wore it to work was rather uncomfortable, potentially due to them being cheaper hearing
to see if it would bother me in a hot kitchen, as aids.
well as many trips to the shops etc...
Facemasks - when taking off my facemask I often found that the strap
From this experience I realised many of the would get tangled in the tubing and snag the hearing aid, uncomfortable.
problems i’d encountered in my research, and a
Hearing aid worn during
few other things that surpised me. simulation.
Discretion - Despite being small and beige, my colleagues and
customers noticed very quickly that I was wearing a hearing aid.
Carry Case - I had no desire to use the carry case as I only took it out in
the evening and it just sat on my bedside table.
12 13
AN
UNFAIR GURUS DAY
Gurus Day was an opportunity to run my ideas by some industry
HEARING TEST
professionals in the hopes of gleaming some valuable insights into the
future of the project.
I spoke with Katie Brown, a PHD student exploring hearing aids and
Super Normal design, and Graham Pullin, designer, researcher, teacher
and author of the manifesto Design Meets Disability.
The unfair hearing test was a video I found online designed to simulate
hearing loss. In which a list of words is played three times that I was to At this stage in the project, I felt that I had lots of valuable research but
write down. The first time simulates what the words would sound like for wasn’t very clear on where the project was headed. However, I knew I
someone with high frequency hearing loss, the second simulates wanted to create a sport hearing aid that would encourage participation
‘normal’ hearing, and the third is meant to simulate full clarity achieved and challenge the stigma surrounding hearing aids and young wearers.
with a hearing aid. After taking the test, I was shocked at how badly I’d
done in some cases, and it made me realise how reliant I am on people
speaking clearly and how important clarity is for conversation. This simple
test, while probably not being totally accurate, has made me realise how
I value my own sense of hearing and allowed me to further empathise for
those with hearing loss.
14 15
GURUS DAY In preparation for guru’s day, we needed a working title, a key image, a short video and a 100-word project summary. As my project was focused on abolishing the stigmatism around young people and hearing aids, I decided my working title would be “A Bolt from the Beige”. This was to be the title of my project for many months, as a flashy product name didn’t seem appropriate at this stage. When creating the hero imagery, I wanted to capture the feeling of energy and movement and incorporate the hearing aid into the image. I felt that this contrasted expectations and helped the viewer understand the theme. The gurus gave me valuable next steps and challenged me to question what I wanted for this project. The most impactful pointers I received were to explore what a sports hearing aid would look like, study existing sporting equipment, delve into materials and their connotations, and to have fun with it all. I left gurus day excited to explore the future of the project and with valuable new perspectives. 16 17
EXISTING EQUIPTMENT Researching the existing visual language of sports equipment was a pivotal moment in this project. By utilising the existing appearances, materials etc... I intended to create a hearing aid that appeared “invisible” in the context of a sporting environment, unlike the problematic “invisible” beige hearing aids. Upon researching equipment, I found that there were design features that were shared by many sports but also that each sport was different. I decided to try and group sports as best I could based on their visual language, for example, indoor equipment such as squash racquets, trainers and clothing, shared bright “energetic” accent colours and more neutral base tones. However, the materials and patterns vary, creating a distinction for each indoor activity / sport. With this realisation I decided to refine my brief to a few specific sports instead of a one-size-fits-all sort of approach. At the time no sports were taking place due to Covid-19 so I knew I wouldn’t have access to sit in on sessions or gleam insight in that way, so I opted to choose sports that my interviewee Rhiannon partook in, and that I saw potential in: Ballet, Hockey and Swimming. I felt these sports demonstrated a range of different sports with different needs and appearances. 18 19
2.
IDEA
GENERATION
With the concept clear to me at this point I
began generating ideas for dedicated
swimming, hockey and ballet hearing aids.
21SWIMMING - MOOD BOARD Creating a mood board with existing swimming products and things that match the visual language used in swimming greatly helped visualise how my swimming hearing aid could look. From this mood board I highlighted a colour palette, earmarked potential materials, identified sleek lines and wavy forms and used all of these things to inspire my idea generation. 22 23
Thoughts at this stage:
Keep experimenting with form.
Make a physical model to test the goggle strap idea.
Investigate waterproof materials and finishes.
SKETCHES
I did some quick concept creation sketches and then traced them into
Procreate on my iPad in order to experiment with some colour. This
process maybe wasn’t the most efficient but with the equipment I had at
my disposal it worked for me. During these sketches I tried to
incorporate secondary functions within the form that were specific to
swimming. These were things like the hearing aid tapering and lying
flatter against the wearers head for streamlining and to slide under
swimming caps (drawing 5), or slots and ridges that could accommodate
a goggle strap (drawings 7 and 11).
24 25CAD MODEL This initial CAD model was an opportunity for me to consider scale and form and apply some rendered textures to it. This was the moment that I realised this was going to be the smallest product, in scale, I’d ever made and the challenges that brings to modelling and manufacture. 26
HOCKEY - MOOD BOARD The hockey mood board revealed that hockey equipment often used dark colours with bright, almost neon, accent colours. Carbon fibre is heavily associated with hockey as a high-performance material, this made me wonder whether the same connotations would apply if carbon fibre was used on a hearing aid. 28
SKETCHES
During initial sketches I incorporated some of the ideas I had for a hockey
hearing aid, these included a hole for a cord to be attached so that if the
hearing aid falls out during a tackle, or while taking a helmet off, it doesn’t
hit the ground and get damaged or lost. Also, with hockey being a team
sport, each team has different team colours and in order for the hearing
aid to blend in it would have to reflect these team colours or at least
harmonise with them.
Thoughts at this stage:
Look to design a cord and clip system for hearing aid.
Keep tweaking form to get correct proportions.
Explore branding and materials.
30 31CAD MODEL The CAD model I made allowed me to experiment with a removeable coloured section, that you could swap in and out for your team colours, or just to mix things up. While this was a successful model for communicating concept the proportions were a bit off and made the hearing aid look fat. 32 33
BALLET - MOOD BOARD The ballet mood board is, in my mind, a failure. It showed clearly how disconnected I was from the sport and culture surrounding it, and although it was not my intention, demonstrated the “girls dance in pink” stereotype. This served as an important reminder that without diverse perspectives and inputs you are doomed to design poor products that don’t engage users and can alienate people. 34 35
SKETCHES I did go on to form some sketches, and aimed to get away from the pretty in pink mentality. With such dynamic movement in ballet comes the risk of the hearing aid falling out so once again I needed a strap or cord to attach the hearing aid to hair or clothing. I decided on a semi rigid cord that could be shaped to fit the dancers head flush and blend in with their hair. I also incorporated an interchangeable clip system so that they could clip it to their clothes by preference or if they had shorter hair. 36 37
DEVELOPMENT SKETCH This cord got me thinking about how ballet uniforms change between practice and stage production. During practice, black and white leotards are donned and in production spectacular costumes are seen, but in both scenarios’ unity is key. The strap was designed to be interchangeable, from a malleable cord to a flowing ribbon, from brown to blonde to red hair, so that it blended in and suited the wearer. But in a stage production this cord allows costume designers to incorporate the hearing aid into the costume by creating works of jewellery or feathered headdresses etc... This is obviously a larger change to the ballet community than I have control over but a fun thought for the future. 38 39
SHIFTING FOCUS
Up until this point I had stigma, and the wearer prototype, that was The hockey hearing aid and commercially viable
been working with a can engage happily in properly fleshed out and was fun, and I liked the product, the same
short storyboard in mind, exercise. well crafted. This meant idea of personalising and societal change that I
where the user turns up cutting two sports from mix and matching the was initially striving for
to exercise, puts their With the workshop being the list and focusing on hearing aid covers, but with three less
gear on (boots, gloves off-limits due to Covid-19 one. it felt like it lacked vision refined concepts, can be
etc), and puts their sports up until this point I felt and wasn’t as exciting to achieved.
hearing aid in. that three less refined As previously mentioned, me as the others.
hearing aids that I felt the disconnect The swimming hearing
This showed the demonstrate a range between me and the In the end, I decided to aid was most
larger societal change of sports would solidify intricacies of Ballet was make a swimming interesting and important
that I was trying to the viability of dedicated setting myself up to make hearing aid. The need in to me as well as having
foster through dedicated sports hearing aids. an insensitive product, the market for hearing some challenging
sporting hearing aids; so for that reason I have aid wearers to be able to limitations to overcome
that by treating hearing But when the workshops dropped the ballet partake in water sports to keep me busy.
aids as a piece of kit for opened again it became hearing aid for now. and activities is massive.
your sport, you remove possible to create one My intention is that by
the existing hearing aid refined and polished showing a well refined
40 413.
DEVELOPMENT
With the focus fully identified I delved deeper into the development
process, working from my initial sketches and models for a swimming
hearing aid.
43MATERIALS
By looking at existing swimming equipment I was able to identify some
materials that were common in swimming and water sports, namely
plastics, soft touch plastics, and rubbers. By knowing which materials I
was working with I was able to apply the strengths and limitations these
materials provide to my design
development.
I was looking at using a rubberised section to cover up some of the
seams and hinges created by the battery compartment, buttons and
where the casing comes together. This would ideally have helped
waterproof the most vulnerable areas of the hearing aid which was one of
the main considerations when designing this hearing aid.
Example of Soft Touch Plastic
The plastics used in hearing aids are typically acrylics, which works fine
for this product as it is structurally sound, water-proof and comes in the
desired colours. On top of this I wanted to incorporate a “soft touch” finish
that would create a matte appearance and feel rubberised. Not only does
this add to the aesthetic qualities of the hearing aid, but it is also more
hygienic than conventional plastic, which is important with a product that
encounters moisture.
The soft touch finish can be applied with a spray coating post
manufacture, or by co-extrusion whereby a soft touch layer is extruded on
top of the plastic layer during the moulding process.
44 45GOGGLES One of the concepts I had during the initial sketches for the hearing aid was a slot or ridge for a goggle strap to be slotted through. During the development I revisited this idea and made a few card models to test out how the goggles interacted with this idea. The first model had the The second model The third model was an ridge in the very middle featured a gap that was attempt to remove the of the hearing aid. This closer to the fiddly part all together made the most sense wearers head. This by creating a “fin” on in my mind for was in an attempt to the outside of the manufacture as it make it easier for the hearing aid that would would allow the case goggle strap to fall into cover goggle strap. to be produced in two place, which worked When testing this SKETCHES: equal parts before well but was still a bit model, I found that the I did some development sketches of the goggle ridge to test various assembly. It worked finnicky. This model goggle strap tended to forms. At this point I realised I had to create a raised area for the strap fine with the goggle also raised an issue of fall down behind the to go through instead of cutting a slot out as it would affect the internal strap sitting securely now needing two hearing aid which was wiring etc... I didn’t really want to increase the footprint of the hearing aid and neatly in the gap, different hearing aids uncomfortable and ran much so I tried to keep it as small as possible. however it was a bit for the left and right the risk of knocking the finnicky to find the slot ears respectively but hearing aid loose when by feel, this was seemed like the taking the goggles off resolved in future optimal outcome at the (similar to the strap of models by making the time. my face mask getting gap larger. tangled in the hearing 46 aid during simulation). 47
BATTERIES Batteries are a crucial part of hearing aids and, it turns out, a massive headache for swimming hearing aids. Being able to open the battery door and let air in is important for the health of the hearing aid, as well as a necessity for removing and changing the batteries. However, when submerging an object in water, any gaps in the surface create weak points for water to get through, which is a problem when creating a waterproof product. To solve this, waterproof products use rubber gaskets and microfibre meshes to prevent water from getting into the electronics, and that’s what I have implemented in my design. The battery door has a rubber gasket that creates a watertight seal when closed. On top of this I moved the hinge to the inside to reduce water contact and covered them with the rubber material section, mentioned previously, to protect the vulnerable “weak points” from water. 48 49
BUTTONS AND SYMBOLS
Whilst making everything watertight I had to make some decisions about
the controls on the hearing aid. The hearing aids I had been using as
reference had dials for volume up and down and a switch for on and off.
These mechanisms are used in a multitude of devices and are familiar to
the user, but they are not watertight.
I did some research and quick sketches of some possible buttons I could
use for the swimming hearing aid and came up with a round power button
that is flush and embossed in the rubber, and use a similarly embossed
plus and minus symbol divided by a raised rubber bar for volume up and
down. These symbols are widely recognised and intuitive for the user, as
well as being able to be distinguished by feel while behind the ear.
ZINC-AIR BATTERIES
Current hearing aids use Zinc-Air batteries, because they are small and
have a long battery life. However, as the name suggests, Zinc-Air
batteries need air to work. A fact that is unfortunate for a product that
needs to be airtight. To counter this issue, I looked to breathable
waterproof materials like you would find in jackets etc...
They use a waterproof shell fabric, on top of a waterproof,
breathable membrane so that water beads up on the surface and air can
pass through. Using this technology in a small section of the hearing aid
casing would allow air to pass through and power the Zinc-Air battery,
whilst keeping everything watertight. A similar material would be
necessary for the microphone holes.
50 51CAD MODEL Materials: Goggles: Buttons: Batteries:
The hearing aid is An off centre slot in the The buttons are The battery door is encased in the rubber cover
With all of these comprised of a soft top of the hearing aid covered by the rubber to protect the seams, a rubber gasket seals the
developments made a touch acrylic plastic allows a goggle strap coat and divided by a compartment when closed, and a waterproof
final CAD model was body, a clear acrylic to be threaded through raised ridge. The breathable membrane allows oxygen in through
made to see the full ear hook, and a with ease. power button is a a hole in the bottom of the compartment.
picture. polyurethane rubber different shape to the
cover. volume buttons for
52 easy identification. 534.
CARRY CASE
With the core elements of my hearing aid “ironed out”, I set my sights on
the carry case that I had been promising from the beginning of this
project. I wanted to make a case that made maintenance easier, and
streamline the user experience so that it isn’t a deterrent to exercising.
With that in mind I considered the things necessary to maintain a
swimming hearing aid. I included a microfibre cloth, a slot for batteries a
dehumidifier, and charging.
55FORM I began by looking at existing carry cases for goggles, gum shields etc, and decided to use similar design language. I liked the horizontal case seen in the speedo goggles case far more than any square or bulkier shaped cases. I drew up some ideas for potential cases based on existing carry cases I’d seen and gum shields, before deciding on the longer silo shaped case. I felt this was most evocative of the Speedo goggle cases I’d seen. 56 57
DRY BOX
One thing that was cropping up a lot regarding hearing aid care was the
use of a dry box. These could be simple desiccant tubs that you placed
the hearing aid in overnight, or fancier dehumidifying boxes with UV lights
to sterilise the hearing aid while it dries. I knew that if this was being
recommended for normal hearing aids that are NOT meant to be around
water, then I definitely had to incorporate some sort of dry box
functionality for my swimming hearing aid.
After a lot of research, I managed to figure out how to create a makeshift
dry box using a Peltier module, some heat sinks and a fan.
In this setup the Peltier module heats up, the heat then dissipates through
the heatsink where it is sucked out by the fan. The warm air is then blown
through the case and circulates through the hearing aid, extracting any
moisture into the air.
I have also incorporated a desiccant box into the case. This slots into
the lid and extracts moisture from the air, keeping the environment in the
case dry. This is a reusable desiccant that, when the silica pearls become
saturated, can be put in the microwave to dry off. This should be done
once every few months and is indicated by the beads changing colour.
58 59BATTERIES RE-VISITED I decided to revisit the rechargeable battery route, as I wasn’t too confident in how the waterproof membrane material would work for the zinc-air batteries. I initially didn’t want to use rechargeable batteries, as it leaves the wearer vulnerable to running out of battery if they forget to charge the hearing aids. However, when designing the case it occurred to me that the wearer will only be using these hearing aids to do exercise, meaning at all other times it can be in the case to dry off and recharge. With the way technology is at the moment, young people are more than accustomed to charging devices, and with the addition of batteries within the case, they wouldn’t need to plug anything in that often. With that in mind I decided to switch to Silver-Zinc batteries. These are rechargeable and long lasting and, unlike lithium-ion batteries, allow the battery door to be opened to allow airflow through the device. If the waterproof membrane material were to work, then this could be re-incorporated into the hearing aid so that spare zinc-air batteries could be carried in case of emergencies. There is a tray in the case that can hold two batteries in place using magnets. These could be the rechargeable batteries from the hearing aids while they’re drying, or spare zinc-air batteries. 60 61
CAD MODEL Dehumidify
A system comprised of
Charge
Copper induction
Absorb
A case filled with
Dry
A microfibre cloth lies
Push
A single button begins
With all of these a fan, peltier module points in the case are re-useable dessicant in the case to wipe the the dehumidifying
developments made a and heatsink, blows alligned with the beads absorbs excess hearing aid down post process. Moisture
final CAD model was warm air through the hearing aid using a moisture from the air, swim. This ensures and humidity sensors
made before making a case to remove magnet. Allowing the keeping the the contact points are measure the
3D print. moisture from the silver-zinc batteries to environment dry. dry enough to begin environment in the
hearing aid. recharge while in the charging. case to maintain
case. optimal conditions.
62 63BRANDING
Throughout the project I had been reaching out to sports brands to see if
I could use their brand identity on this project. I felt that if I could
incorporate a familiar brand then it would solidify the viability of the
product to a viewer. This was important to me as I think it helps the
viewer imagine a world where sports hearing aids exist, and thus fosters
a different mindset towards hearing aids.
After much back and forth I was able to get permission from Speedo to
use their branding. This was very exciting for me and inspired a slight
redesign to incorporate the Speedo design language into the hearing aid.
DESIGN LANGUAGE
I researched existing Speedo products to identify their design language.
I noticed a lot of similar colours from my initial research, although they do
push the boat out with some bolder colours. I also noticed the same sleek
lines, and added texture to the surface with raised and indented ridges.
Taking inspiration from how the lenses on the goggles moulded into the
strap (left) and from the embossed ridges around the lenses (right) I
made some changes to the hearing aid model.
Another thing I noticed was that the names of Speedo products were very
sleek (almost cheesy), like “Hydropure”, “Aqua-pulse”, “Fastskin Hyper
Elite”. Many of them use words associated with water or speed, so I took
this on board when coming up with the name Aquaphonic, with “aqua”
relating to water and “phonic” relating to sound.
64 65RE-DESIGN While making design decisions on the case, I was working on the hearing aid to make sure that both parts worked in unison. With that and the Speedo development, I made some changes to the hearing aid. By raising the section where the goggle strap slot meets the hearing aid body, I feel I have made the curve look less steep and added some layers to the product. I also added some ridges to break up the flat surface on the outside of the hearing aid. These changes were inspired by the details mentioned on the previous Speedo products. Some other non-brand related changes have been made here also. With the change to rechargeable batteries, I decided to remove the rubber coating so that the induction pieces could sit flush with the surface. It also reduces the number of materials being used in the manufacture. This meant also changing the buttons, opting for oval volume up and down buttons, and a circular power button, that will later have symbols printed on. 66 67
5. MANUFACTURE
After much deliberation and re-design, a complete, to scale, CAD model
was finished and sent to be 3D printed. Because of Covid-19 I wasn’t
able to 3D print them myself, but the workshop support team were willing
to print them for me, for which I am extremely grateful.
693D PRINTS
Once the model was printed, the pieces came with PVA supports that I
was able to remove by soaking them in water for a few days.
Once the supports had dissolved, I began preparing them to be painted.
This meant sanding the parts down multiple times, starting with rough
220 grit, then smoother 400 grit, followed by wet sanding with 1000 grit.
This ensured a smooth surface for priming that was clear of plastic dust.
PAINTING
Once the pieces were sanded down, I sprayed on a coat of primer to
provide a better surface for the spray paint to hold on to. The primer
revealed some imperfections in the surface, so I sanded it again with 600
grit sandpaper before re-priming.
Once it was properly primed, I began spray painting the pieces. Each
piece got at least two coats of paint. Without access to the spray booth, I
had to spray outside on cardboard where possible, but rainy days meant
spraying in my room with a mask on and windows open.
The blue parts were then finished with a spray on coating called Plasti
Dip, this was to give the parts the soft touch finish whilst also aiding in
waterproofing.
70 71ASSEMBLY
The hearing aid pieces came in two halves with pins to attach them
together. Unfortunately, after having paint applied the fitting was a bit
snug and some of them snapped when being pulled apart, but enough
stayed intact for an aligned assembly. On one side a magnet was added,
this is what will align the hearing aid in the case for charging, and on the
other side buttons were put in.
Once these components were in, I sealed them up with a bit of glue
before attaching the button tops on the outside. Once all of these steps
were done, I applied the Plasti Dip finish to fully seal the piece from the
outside.
The case is built in 3 parts, the lid, the base, and the tray for the hearing
aids. The lid and the base are connected via a plastic hinge that snaps
into place, this type of hinge would work better with a slightly softer
plastic, as the PLA print material has very little give.
When closed the lid is held shut with a small lip that can be lifted using
the gap underneath.
The tray section has small ridges that align with indents in the base, so
that it can pop in securely and stay there.
The desiccant holder is a two-part print, the lid slots into the base and
twists to secure, it is then slotted into the gap in the case and fits snug.
The CAD model featured two small points on the lid that would hold the
desiccant case in place, however as the PLA material has very little give,
and the wall thickness is too thick, the part doesn’t bow enough for it to fit
in, so I had to remove them on the physical model.
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6. AQUAPHONIC
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WHAT IS AQUAPHONIC? Aquaphonic is a hearing aid dedicated for swimming. Designed to fit in with your existing swimming equipment, Aquaphonic utilises goggle strap integration and close material relationships to remove hearing aid stigma and allow the wearer to dive headfirst into exercise. Through waterproof materials, a series of gaskets, and microfibre mesh coverings, a wearer can place their trust in a robust, waterproof hearing aid, and swim freely without sacrificing their hearing. Once finished, Aquaphonic’s carry case can dry and charge the hearing aid, using a dehumidifying and desiccant system paired with onboard batteries, to protect the hearing aid and ensure that you’re never caught out. Aquaphonic has been designed to free wearers from hearing aid limitations and challenge what hearing aids can be. So swim on, and submerge your expectations. 90
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