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September 14, 2006
Hearing Aids
My mother recently got a new hearing aid that has really changed her life. The device itself delivers really high quality sound and is almost invisible to wear. We were talking about it the other day and it occured to me that hearing aids were a good example of mobile persuasion. Poor hearing runs in my family and my mother was pointing out that this new Oticon Delta hearing aid was something I would need to consider at some point and this model is being marketed to baby boomers in denial about hearing loss because of the un-sightly devices that are typically sold today. You see more and more people wearing phone headsets these days on the streets and in airports. How far off are we from hearing aids being fashionable? When does the line between hearing aid and connected hearing gadget blur and your bluetooth phone is able to connect with your hearing aid?
Keywords: health, technology, hearing, bluetooth
Description: An extremely small and capable hearing aid that offers an in the ear speaker with an extremely small profile and advanced sound processing system. This product is squarely targeted at Baby boomers who are more likely to deny any hearing loss to avoid traditional hearing aids. This device is small and almost trendy. It is more like a bluetooth phone headset than a hearing aid and comes in multiple colors.
Persuasive Intent: To persuade people to do something about their hearing loss.
Target Audience: 50 plus
Price: $3,000
Boomer Mobile Health Project
This entry is part of a study on how mobile devices and health applications will effect compliance, attitude and behavior change among older adults. The perspective of the Boomer Mobile Health project is that the considerable development of mobile health devices, applications and services will influence changes in the behaviors of older adults in the area of physical and mental fitness, disease management and education. If you know of good examples of mobile products designed for boomers, please e-mail me at MarkCarp@stanford.edu
Mark Carpenter
Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab
Posted by Mark at September 14, 2006 10:07 AM