If you wear a hearing aid, wear your headphones often, or are a member of the US Navy SEALs, you need earpieces that fit you and only you. This way, the custom fit earpieces ensure you get the best sound quality possible and you don’t experience outside noise. However, to make this happen, would’ve been a costly and time-consuming process in the past. Now, a 3D scanning service can be used to capture the structure and size of a person’s ear canal, making the development of the custom earpiece much simpler. It also removes the need for casting an ear impression, which is often messy and uncomfortable. Ear impressions involve using a silicone material that had a paste-like texture. The material was placed in the ear to make an impression then removed. A 3D model was then made from this impression off of which the earpiece was made. This was a costly and uncomfortable procedure for most people. Plus, it took at least five minutes for each ear, which is a long time to have goop in your ear if you think about it.
The process involves using a probe to place a membrane filled with fluid in the ear. From there, the 3D scanning service runs a fluorescent light over the membrane. This creates an image of the interior of the ear. Designers can then create an earpiece that fits your ear canal perfectly. It will seriously be made just for you. Every little detail of the year is captured this way, ensuring the snowed in comfortable fit
Using a 3D scanning service cuts down on the time required considerably. Now, it only takes a minute per ear to create a 3D model on the computer. It’s called the Lantos and this scanning tech pretty much only causes a little bit of discomfort due to changes in air pressure in the ear. That’s it.
Though this technology was originally created for the hearing aid market, Lantos is now looking at the consumer headphone market. Custom fit headphones are in high demand and this technology would be extremely useful. Likewise, the military has expressed an interest in Lantos Technologies. Earpieces need to be made for fighter pilots as well as those who require hearing protection or in-ear communication devices. The number of applications for this technology seem limitless and it only seems to be expanding.