Community Story
Julie
Music lover · Down the Tubes Production
Julie has loved music her whole life. It runs through her family, from opera singers to a jazz drummer to a violinist in a national orchestra, and she has always felt deeply connected to it. The first time she pulled on a Tactus jacket, that connection became something she could feel across her whole body, not just hear. In her words, it was breathtaking.
“"The touchpoints place the magic of music on to the individual, and it is - in a word - breathtaking. I shrugged into a Tactus jacket for the first time, and while I have always connected deeply with music, this was the first time that I truly felt it."”
Their story
My family lineage boasts a WW2 lounge singer, a violinist in a national symphony orchestra, several opera singers, multiple instrumentalists, a jazz drummer, a budding Broadway star and enough vocalists to fill a choir. My world has been filled with music from Puccini to the Pogues and back again, but I am the sole member of my large family with hearing loss. I have been fortunate to have benefited from the use of hearing aids, and can still access music for near-constant enjoyment, but my hearing is fading. The day will come when Sinatra’s velvet voice will no longer be heard, and I will lose the ability to blast my beloved college fight song at top volume on game day. The thought of losing music when my hearing completes its inevitable decline is an unspeakable heartbreak. Enter Jeremy Chow - the extraordinary engineer and visionary behind Tactus Music. Inspired by a college professor who is a member of the deaf/hard of hearing community, Mr. Chow created an absolutely revolutionary product designed to provide unparalleled access to music for the deaf/hard of hearing through the use of embedded and strategically placed technology inside clothing. Through the use of Bluetooth and other technological magic, the wearer of the clothing, currently available in jacket and vest form, is enveloped in a world of vibrations. The touchpoints place the magic of music on to the individual, and it is - in a word - breathtaking. I shrugged into a Tactus jacket for the first time, and while I have always connected deeply with music, this was the first time that I truly felt it.
Mr. Chow’s forward thinking and innovation has lifted a barrier and provided accessibility in a way that I could have never imagined.
About Down the Tubes Production
Down the Tubes Production is a content studio founded by two hard-of-hearing best friends. Through videos, podcasts, and writing, they inform, educate, and entertain the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, taking on what makes living in a hearing world a challenge. As they put it: there's no one way to be deaf.
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