by Blake Cadwell
The start of every school year marks an increase in young people’s anxiety and fears of bullying. This is especially true for those with a disability – including the 34M+ kids around the world with hearing loss, many of whom wear hearing aids. Often feeling ostracized by their peers, and this stigma can affect their confidence and willingness to speak up about their needs.
Much more must be done to increase awareness and normalize hearing aid representation. One place we know kids are turning to is one of the top global gaming platforms – Roblox.
With more than 50M+ users worldwide, Roblox is one of the most popular platforms for young people right now. However, while thousands of glasses are available for personalizing avatars, that’s not the case for hearing aids.
Early this summer, we got a group of designers and developers together to change that with a virtual hearing aid collection made exclusively for the Roblox community.
Our goal was to drive positive media/social conversation and help kids feel seen on their favorite gaming platform.
The team of designers and developers generated over 100 design ideas and ultimately landed on a collection of 5 statement pieces that players could get excited about wearing on their Roblox avatars.
From Hot Pink to Pegasus Wings, players could now put hearing aids on their virtual characters. Within days we saw thousands of players engage with the new collection on Roblox and social media sites like Twitter and TikTok.
The launch was just the start. Today when players search for hearing aids in the Roblox avatar shop, they see bright and imaginative designs.
You can read more about the project here.
Blake Cadwell the CEO and Founder of Soundly, a hearing aid comparison site that aims to help consumers navigate the first steps of hearing care in a modern way. After waiting almost two decades to take his hearing loss seriously, he got hearing aids in 2020.
