Loop Earplugs
About
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.1 billion young people worldwide are at risk of hearing damage. Rock concerts and nightclubs are at the top of the list of causes, and as a result, 180 million young people have already suffered irreversible damage.
Loop earplugs was founded with the idea of producing revolutionary earwear in this high-volume world, hence the company’s motto ‘Shut up Noise; Turn up Sounds’.
The Challenges
Traditional earplugs are not comfortable to wear at all, and they do not mute the entire frequency spectrum, causing some tones to come through louder than others. Custom-made earplugs are often suggested as an alternative, but these can quickly become too expensive.
Approach
In collaboration with TU Delft, Loop developed a design that creates a hollow acoustic signal and functions as a resonator, similar to the human ear canal.
For the production of Loop earplugs, it quickly became clear that beyond prototyping and testing, additive manufacturing was the way forward for serial production. Another benefit was the possibility to quickly respond to customer needs.
