Auditory Crescendo

• A Science Fiction prototype that explores the impact of radical disruptive innovation on hearing aid product capabilities.
• Science Fiction prototype exploration for potential new commercial markets opportunities created through (spin-off) military technology goods.
• Science Fiction prototype that also explores the social consequences of the super-enhanced hearing aid innovation.
• Innovation example where technology is brought from one field into another (civil diversification).

This prototype explores the impact of radical disruptive innovation on hearing aid product capabilities. New markets created through the successful commercialization of military technology (‘spin-off’) goods have a long and profitable history. For instance, the Internet, GPS, lithium ion batteries and wireless communication tools. But although a product works in a military environment there are significant challenges in bringing it successfully to a commercial marketplace. Military-industrial capabilities are focused on having technological superiority over the enemy while cost and price considerations have a much more important role in commercial settings. Successful diversification of radical military innovations into the commercial sphere is difficult to predict, as this involves the development of new concepts with no current examples. Further they also often potentially completely change the marketplace of an industry (such as the case of the music and newspaper industries). This type of innovation frequently involves bringing in technology from one field into another (civil diversification). The prototype also explores the social and emotional consequences of the super-enhanced hearing aid innovation.