Tinnitus affects 1 in 8 people in the UK – that’s over 7 million people! Over half of people find their tinnitus severely or moderately distressing with complaints of reduced sleep, emotional stress, and lack of concentration. For something that affects so many you would expect a plethora of treatment options but this is not the case.

Pebl is Josh Stretton’s small contribution to the tinnitus community. It is designed to empower the user and allow them to take back control of their tinnitus. Tinnitus is different for everyone so Pebl reflects this, allowing users to tailor sounds to their individual tinnitus tone. This is done through interacting with the buttons and touch sliders on the back of the product, creating a harmony of physical and audible interaction.

Sculpted to resemble a river stone, Pebl packages therapeutic sounds into a relatable natural form differentiating itself from the current line-up of cheap uninspired noise generators. Intended to go under a user’s pillow while they sleep, Pebl minimises the impact of tinnitus while providing an immersive and intimate audio experience.

While this product doesn’t solve the underlying mechanisms that cause tinnitus, it strives to improve a user’s relationship with their tinnitus. When you give people the ability to control something which causes them great emotional stress, you not only improve their quality of life but the lives of those around them.
Pebl is a small step in the right direction, but they hope it makes people’s days with tinnitus that little bit easier.