inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf

inspiring canadians to live better.

healthing leaf
mosquito-borne diseases affect up to 700 million people each year. learn more
powered by: valneva canada inc.

almost half of toronto venues are bad for your ears

app that measures noise found that the average loudness of toronto's restaurants is higher than new york city or san francisco.

by nicholas sokic

mar 6 2020
read time 2 minute read
join the conversation
app measures noise in restaurants. stock/ getty
it’s friday night, and after a long work week you want to hit up a bar with your friends. you sidle into the booth and proceed to spend the next several hours yelling at each other from two feet away, just to be heard above the noise.

it’s a familiar story to gregory scott, the founder of the crowdsourced app soundprint . he has hearing loss himself, and came up with the idea after many dates out in new york city where the music was unbearably loud, even damaging to his ears. he began to measure venues with decibel meters and eventually translated that work into a smartphone app.

the app, launched in 2018, allows users to search and rate public venues based on how quiet or loud they are. it has compiled curated ‘quiet lists’ of cities like new york and san francisco. toronto will the one of the first international lists, alongside london. vancouver has seen significant usage from the app as well.
“you open up the app and press ‘begin’ for about 30 seconds,” said scott. “it will tell you whether it will be conducive to conversation, and it will also tell you whether it will be a danger to hearing health.”
noise-induced damage is the biggest cause of non-inherited hearing loss. you can use the app for hotels, bars, restaurants, parks, movie theatres and many other public areas, even hospitals.
powered by
canadian centre for caregiving excellence

advertisement

while the list for toronto won’t be finalized for another six to eight weeks, scott did reveal that about 72 per cent of the venues in the city are too loud for conversation, while 48 per cent potentially endanger the hearing health of patrons and employees. the average loudness of restaurants in the city is 80 decibels, right at the threshold of damage, and higher than new york city or san francisco.
“when you go above 80 you put the hearing health of not only patrons but venue employees at risk,” said scott. “when you’re a patron you’re only there for a few hours, but when you’re an employee working there day after day for 8 hours at a time, that could be dangerous.”
scott and his team can also look at which places were measured during peak hours to further distinguish noise levels.
recently, the app has added the ability to relay noise complaints directly to venue managers. soundprint will notify the owners of the negative impacts and how to best optimize design for hearing.
there have been over 100,000 noise level submissions to date across 20 cities.

scott and soundprint are also a part of the world health organization’s (who) world hearing forum , which had its inaugural meeting last december. “we’re in the beginning stages of sharing our data to the forum,” says scott. the forum’s mandate is to raise hearing loss awareness over the next five years.

powered by
obesity matters

comments

postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. we ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. we have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. visit our community guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

you may also like
overhead flat lay of a doctor's stethoscope with the canadian flag against a blue background.
which provinces and territories spend the most on healthcare in canada?
male doctor explaining young lady results of mammogram, breast cancer awareness
study shows no significant difference in mortality rates among common breast cancer treatments
telemedicine, video call to doctor, communication with medicine online. modern focused middle aged woman having online call on laptop showing tablets in a blister. healthcare and medicine concept
the future of clinical trials: bringing hybrid and decentralized methods to all canadians
happy african american man and his family preparing salad in the kitchen.
study says fathers-to-be should watch what they eat
young woman wearing virtual reality headset when having therapy session
5 ways virtual reality is improving patient experiences and health outcomes
you may also like
overhead flat lay of a doctor's stethoscope with the canadian flag against a blue background.
which provinces and territories spend the most on healthcare in canada?
male doctor explaining young lady results of mammogram, breast cancer awareness
study shows no significant difference in mortality rates among common breast cancer treatments
telemedicine, video call to doctor, communication with medicine online. modern focused middle aged woman having online call on laptop showing tablets in a blister. healthcare and medicine concept
the future of clinical trials: bringing hybrid and decentralized methods to all canadians
happy african american man and his family preparing salad in the kitchen.
study says fathers-to-be should watch what they eat
you may also like
overhead flat lay of a doctor's stethoscope with the canadian flag against a blue background.
which provinces and territories spend the most on healthcare in canada?
male doctor explaining young lady results of mammogram, breast cancer awareness
study shows no significant difference in mortality rates among common breast cancer treatments