Hearing protection device with situational awareness and alerts for the industrial sector
The industrial sector exposes workers to very high levels of environmental noise that causes serious health problems such as hearing loss, tinnitus, stress, cardiovascular disease, etc. Many of these health problems are easy to avoid, however once they have occurred, they are irreversible. Moreover, there is a direct relationship between loud noises and labour accidents in the industry, since loud sounds are lowering situational awareness. Current Hearing Protection Devices (HPD) have many disadvantages. Firstly, many HPD are bulky, difficult to wear, incompatible with other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and hinder manoeuvrability. Secondly, they overprotect workers, which results in worker isolation and further increases the risk of occupational accidents. Many HPDs have a “hear-through” function using an external microphone, electronics and loudspeakers, but the reproduced sound is unnatural, speech is difficult to understand, and they lack the 3-dimensional experience which results in poor situational awareness. To solve the aforementioned problems, we are developing Minuendo® Industry which the world’s first HPD that automatically adjusts noise attenuation to safe and suitable sound levels and thus avoids overprotection. At the same time, Minuendo® Industry preserves a natural sound experience without any distortion. This patent-pending adjustment technology allows for a natural acoustic path and the system gives a smart alert in case of danger. Furthermore, the form factor is comfortable, together with exceptionally long battery life. The global Intelligent Hearing Protection Device market was valued at €366M in 2018 and is expected to be €1.18B by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 15.9%. We aim to obtain 2.2% of the market through established distribution network and direct sales by 2026. The proposed project is highly profitable and generates accumulated sales of 75.12 MM€, IRR of 83.79%, ROI = 6 by 2026, with a payback period of 2 years.