More comfortable earplugs mean increased use and lower rates of hearing loss.
The authors tested the 3D-printed meta-earplug on an artificial head and a group of human participants, demonstrating an effective reduction in low-frequency sound. Credit: Carillo et al.
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2026 — Workplace hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses. While hearing loss is preventable with earplugs, they can be uncomfortable, and users often remove them despite the risks. Low-frequency sounds, such as rumbling traffic and warehouse vibrations, are especially difficult to address because differences in ear physiology allow sound to leak into ears, despite protection from earplugs.
Traditional earplugs also make the user’s voice sound booming and hollow, known as the occlusion effect. It is caused by vocal vibrations that travel through bones and build up pressure on the eardrum when the ear canal is blocked with an earplug.
In the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, published by AIP Publishing, researchers at…click to read more
From: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Article: Voice clones are easier to understand in noise than their human originals: the voice cloning intelligibility benefit
DOI: 10.1121/10.0043161