Art Cinema Installs Hearing Loop

Nearly 50 million people in the U.S. have a degree of hearing loss that limits their full involvement in community life.

Salina, Kan. (June 25, 2018) The Salina Art Center Cinema has installed a hearing loop in the 92 seat downtown movie theater. The hearing loop was made possible by private support from patrons.

The hearing loop is a wire taking a feed from a PA system and transmitting it through a wire loop around the room. This loop creates a magnetic field sending a wireless signal to a telecoil receiver, or T-coil, that has been placed in a hearing aid or cochlear implant. In order to hear, any person with a hearing aid or cochlear implant just turns on the telecoil. Additional options to support hearing the movies are available at the concession counter.

A t-coil, or telecoil, is a small copper coil in the hearing aid functioning as a wireless antenna that picks up the magnetic field from the loop, delivering customized sound to the hearing aid wearer. It is an option on most hearing aids and is generally in all cochlear implant processors.

Salina Art Center Cinema is open 7 days per week and screens first run independent features, documentary, and foreign language films. The Cinema also hosts special screening events including Science on Screen. Nearly 11, 000 ticket holders visit the Art Cinema each year. To learn more about the hearing loop, or to advertise on screen, call 785-827-1431.