designaffairs studio: ecocoon

'ecocoon'

information overload is the norm of today's world. with advancing mobile technologies
and the internet, people are expected to be readily available. thus, for those who wish to
withdraw from this continuously flowing stream of information and reverse sensory
overload, designaffairs studio from germany have developed 'ecocoon'. it is a hearing aid
that shuts out exterior stimulation and instead refocuses the user on internal signals from
the body. with the choices of high, middle or low range frequencies, users can choose to
mildly turn down or completely shut off all background noise. in this latter mode, 'ecocoon'
makes audible the user's own pulse or breathing patterns. successively slow respiration and
the rhythm of a beating pulse make it possible to calm down and temporarily retreat into
a kind of virtual cocoon where one is 'offline'.

the status of the hearing aid is indicated by a pulsating colored light.
left to right: off, traffic (peak frequencies suppressed), office (mid-range frequencies suppressed such as voices), and offline mode

the reverse hearing aid also features two silicon caps to guarantee a perfect fit, a switch between modes found at the bottom
of the design and an adjustable pulse-reading unit.