Sponsorship has made Lake Country’s Creekside Theatre more accessible to individuals with hearing loss.
The Auris Loop assistive listening system has been installed at the theatre after a donation from Lakeside Hearing and Tinnitus Centre.
“It’s wonderful that public facilities are becoming more accessible to people with hearing loss,” said Ryan Donn, cultural development co-ordinator for Lake Country.
“Individuals of all ages that use hearing aids will now be able to enjoy great shows and live music performances at the Creekside Theatre in Lake Country.”
In most places, hard of hearing people hear the broadcast sound, but only after it has traveled some distance from a loudspeaker, reverberated off walls, and gotten mixed with other room noise. Induction loop systems take sound straight from the source and deliver it right into the listener’s head. It’s as if one’s head was located in the microphone, without extraneous noise or blurring of the sound due to the distance from the sound source.
Today’s digital hearing aids enhance hearing in conversational settings. Yet for many people with hearing loss the sound becomes unclear when auditorium or theatre loudspeakers are at a distance, when the context is noisy, or when room acoustics reverberate sound.
“To explain the technical aspects, a hearing loop magnetically transfers the microphone or theatre sound signal to hearing aids and cochlear implants that have a tiny, inexpensive telecoil receiver,” said Nichole Sorensen, owner of Lakeside Hearing.
“This transforms the instruments into in-the-ear loudspeakers that deliver sound customized for an individual’s own hearing loss.”