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See more objects with the tag personal, metallic, personal adornment, curved, tool, technology, health-care, prosthetic, medical, hearing aids, sound, listening, observation, chrome, deaf, hearing loss, hard of hearing.

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Object Timeline

-0001	We photographed this object.
2008	Work on this object began.
2011	We acquired this object.
2013	We photographed this object.
2014	We exhibited this object. This was an Object of the Day.
2017	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Zon Hearing Aid

This is a Hearing Aid. It was designed by Stuart Karten Design. It is dated 2008 and we acquired it in 2011. Its medium is injection-molded nylon, chromed metal, high-gloss metallic paint. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

Individuals with hearing impairments can wait as long as eight years before getting their first hearing aid, because they associate the conventional shrimp-shaped beige hearing aid with age and weakness, even disability. To address this stigma, Stuart Karten Design created this stylish and empowering tool. Borrowing visual cues from modern architecture, jewelry, and automotive design, Karten transformed the hearing aid into a visually appealing object. Available in a palette of six understated colors that blend with various hair and skin tones, Zon is virtually invisible when worn behind the ear and bears a closer resemblance to a piece of jewelry than to a medical device. The Zon hearing aid was a 2008 recipient of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s People’s Design Award.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Observe: An Inspired and Empowering Hearing Device.

It is credited Gift of Starkey Laboratories, Inc..

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Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 3.3 x 1.7 x 0.7 cm (1 5/16 x 11/16 x 5/16 in.)

Cite this object as

Zon Hearing Aid; Designed by Stuart Karten Design (United States); USA; injection-molded nylon, chromed metal, high-gloss metallic paint; H x W x D: 3.3 x 1.7 x 0.7 cm (1 5/16 x 11/16 x 5/16 in.); Gift of Starkey Laboratories, Inc.; 2011-5-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Access+Ability and Tools: Extending Our Reach.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2E16z/
Accession Number 2011-5-1
Object ID 18731075