Apple Watch and AirPods data shows that we’re exposed to too much noise
In 2019, Apple announced a series of studies to be conducted with academic partners. Among them was the University of Michigan, which Apple teamed up with for research focused on hearing loss. The results of their study are in, and as it turns out, we are all probably exposed to too much noise. An estimated one in 10 of the study’s participants have hearing loss due to noise. The study took place between November 2019 and February 2021 and analyzed data from approximately 70,000 participants. Each participant was involved in the study for at least 60 days. In addition to noise levels, which the study captured through the Apple Watch and through Apple headphones, the study also looked at heart rate and exercise data for Watch wearers. Researchers also gathered demographic data, gave participants surveys, and used the iPhone to give participants a virtual hearing test. The main purpose of the study was to get a better understanding of what kinds of noise people are exposed to on a daily basis. “Until a couple years ago, we had 40-year-old estimates on national noise exposure,” Rick Neitzel, the associate chair of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan and the leading researcher on the Apple hearing health study, told Fast Company in 2019 when the study was first announced. The World Health Organization estimates there are 466 million people with “disabling hearing loss,” or hearing loss at 40 decibels. The goal of the study is to help researchers at the University of Michigan gather broad data about hearing loss and specifically about noise-induced hearing loss. Read More …