An early electronic hearing aid device designed to amplify and transmit sound to people with hearing loss.
A blend of acoustic and the suffix -on (a common ending for electronic devices). Created in the early 20th century as a brand name for a hearing device, it became a generic term for similar amplification devices during that era.
The Acousticon was one of the first practical hearing aids invented in 1902, and it was actually kind of bulky—you had to wear a battery pack in your pocket! It represented a major breakthrough before modern tiny hearing aids.
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