Cochlear has released an online application that calibrates online video and music to the listener’s unique hearing ability.
CHE Proximity, together with audiologists and sound engineers, have collaborated to raise awareness about the 3.6 million Australians living with some form of hearing loss.
Based on a series of user inputs, Hearprint works by adjusting audio frequencies so they are tailored to the listener’s hearing ability. It then calibrates online content to the viewer’s ears.
Anyone can download the software as a Google Chrome extension to hear all their favourite online films, TV shows and music, with their unique sound calibration.
“No two people hear the world the same,” Janet Menzies, general manager of Cochlear in Australia and New Zealand, said.
“The new Hearprint tool helps Australians to visualise their unique sound calibration.”
Unlike hearing aids, which simply turn up the volume for all sounds around the wearer, Cochlear implants accommodate an individual’s unique hearing needs by recalibrating their ears to the world around them to restore their hearing.
Hearprint has been applied to the first content series calibrated to user’s unique hearing. The documentaries, by The Glue Society’s Jonathan Kneebone, tell the stories of how Cochlear is changing the lives of people with hearing loss.
Brian Jefferson, group creative director at CHE Proximity, said: “We don’t want to just make ads for Cochlear – we want to create experiences that help people reconsider their hearing and how Cochlear could help.
“Every day, thousands of Australians aren’t hearing as they should, so for those people, the Hearprint turns every video on the internet into a chance to realise there’s a better solution.
“And what better way to introduce it to the world than through the amazing stories of Jennie and Andy.”
Kneebone said: “Following on from the success of the ‘Hearing Test In Disguise’, it has been exciting for us to also direct this latest piece of innovative creativity, where we reveal the significant human impact of such incredible technology.”
Over the next few months, an addressable media campaign will promote the technology and the story of nutritional scientist Jennie Brand-Miller to select audiences, along with a PR presence and website experience designed to capture leads.
CREDITS
Client: Cochlear
Vice president of marketing and business development, Cochlear Australia and New Zealand: Scott Housley
General manager, Cochlear Australia and New Zealand: Janet Menzies
Senior manager, Cochlear Asia Pacific: Ben Marosszeky
Senior marketing communications manager, Cochlear Asia Pacific: Kerryn Burke
Senior marketing communications manager, Cochlear Australia and New Zealand: Linda Ballam-Davies
Consumer campaign manager, Cochlear Asia Pacific: Kate Harrison
Cochlear Care Centre managers, Cochlear Australia and New Zealand: Leonie Fewster and Julie Decker
Agency: CHE Proximity
CEO: Chris Howatson
Managing director: David Halter
Chief creative officer: Ant White
Group creative director: Brian Jefferson
Associate creative directors: Letizia Bozzolini and Lisa O’Neill
Senior copywriter: Cameron Brown
Group account director: Mariana Rice
Senior account director: Charlotte Jones
Senior account manager: Alice Jamieson
Head of design: Jason Young
Senior designer: Vanessa Saporito
Head of CHEP Films: Julie Duff
Production coordinator: Katena Valastro
Operations manager: Roma Stein
Head of performance: James Shaw
Senior experience strategist: Hannah Garcia
Performance manager: Elliot Tindale
Experience manager: Ryan Townsend
Performance executive: Elaine Yang
Programmatic manager: Tien Tran
Data and media operations manager: Leigh Munday
Digital products director: Jamie Metcalfe
Digital project manager: Simon Ridley
Creative technologists: Matthew White and Patrik Fagard
Technical director, product and communications: Matthew Rose
Head of strategic design: Matthew Willcox
Senior digital designer: Sebastian Perez de Arce
PR: Attention+Influence
General manager: Simone Pipkorn
Account director: Fleur Williamson
Senior account manager: Elen Clement
Director: Jonathon Kneebone, The Glue Society
Production: Revolver/ Will O’Rourke
Managing director and executive producer: Michael Ritchie
Executive producer and head of projects: Josh Mullens
Producers: Isabella Vitelli and Jasmin Helliar
Director of photography: Alex Harrod and Jordan Maddocks
Post-production: The Glue Society Studios
Flame artist: Viv Baker
Colourist: Trish Cahill
Sound: Noise International
Sound designer: Kathleen Burrows
