SHOEBOX PureTest Wins 2026 Hearing Technology Innovator Award for Advancing Boothless Occupational Hearing Testing

Recognition in the Equipment, Audiometry category builds on SHOEBOX's award-winning history of making accurate hearing testing accessible beyond the sound booth.

OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SHOEBOX, the pioneer of OSHA-compliant boothless hearing testing solutions, today announced that SHOEBOX PureTest™ has earned the 2026 Hearing Technology Innovator Award in the Equipment, Audiometry category. The recognition highlights the company's continued innovation in occupational hearing conservation, helping employers run accurate, OSHA-compliant hearing testing onsite year-round without a sound booth.

Hosted by Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM), the annual awards program recognizes innovation across the hearing industry. This win is SHOEBOX's fifth Hearing Technology Innovator Award since 2020, including back-to-back wins for SHOEBOX PureTest after its 2025 Hearing Conservation Software award. This is the latest in a series of industry recognitions for SHOEBOX, which also won three consecutive Occupational Health & Safety Industrial Hygiene Awards (2023 to 2025) and the inaugural AIHA Connect Spirit of Innovation Award in 2025.

"Reliable hearing testing is the foundation of every effective hearing conservation program," said Uttam Varma, Senior Product Manager at SHOEBOX. "We built SHOEBOX PureTest to put employers in control: test employees onsite, on their own schedule, and see where their program stands at a glance. We keep improving SHOEBOX PureTest throughout the year, most recently with our new Compliance Dashboard. This award reflects our commitment to innovation and to the organizations and people who rely on us."

SHOEBOX pioneered tablet-based audiometry and was the first to bring boothless testing to occupational hearing conservation. SHOEBOX PureTest pairs an iPad-based audiometer with intuitive data management and compliance tracking to make it easy for teams to manage hearing testing themselves. The audiometer uses automated workflows and patent-pending REACT Safeguards™, which monitor background noise and employee responses throughout every test, pausing when the room gets too loud and rechecking results the algorithm flags as unreliable. SHOEBOX PureTest's accuracy has been validated against traditional sound booth testing in multiple peer-reviewed studies, including independent research, and a 2026 commentary in the American Journal of Audiology named SHOEBOX as one of only four validated boothless hearing testing systems.

Because the system is portable, employers can test onsite year-round, with scheduling that fits their operations. Teams can organize testing around employee availability, reducing the logistical constraints of a single annual testing event and off-site retesting. Employees can complete the test in self-directed mode or receive assistance when support is needed, giving teams flexibility to accommodate individual testing needs. By making testing convenient and comfortable for employees, SHOEBOX PureTest supports participation in workplace hearing conservation programs.

Results flow automatically into the Data Management Portal for centralized records, reporting and integration with occupational health systems. Its new Compliance Dashboard shows compliance across the organization and by site, and identifies which employees are overdue for testing, awaiting retest or need follow-up. SHOEBOX is ISO 27001 certified for information security, with data hosted in HIPAA-compliant cloud storage. Together, these capabilities help organizations manage hearing test records securely and turn results into clear next steps for their teams.

"Accurate hearing testing should be accessible to more people, in more places," said Julian Bromwich, cofounder and CTIO of SHOEBOX. "That belief is why we started SHOEBOX, and for the last decade it has guided our work across workplace hearing programs, clinical care and pharmaceutical research. We're proud of this recognition and committed to continuing to lead boothless hearing testing."

For more information on SHOEBOX PureTest, click here. For imagery, click here.

About SHOEBOX
SHOEBOX has spent the last decade pioneering hearing testing outside of the sound booth. Since creating the first tablet-based audiometer, SHOEBOX has continued to evolve, making hearing testing more accessible across industries as the leader in boothless audiometry for occupational hearing testing, while also enabling hearing services and healthcare professionals to reach more patients, and helping pharmaceutical teams conduct effective ototoxicity monitoring.

About the Hearing Technology Innovator Awards
The Hearing Technology Innovator Awards™ is a global awards program recognizing innovative technologies, products, and services that are advancing the hearing industry. Since its inception, the program has helped raise more than $40,000 for hearing-related charities. Learn more at https://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearing-technology-innovator-awards/.

About HHTM
Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) provides timely information and lively insights for everyone who cares about hearing health. Our readership and contributors span the full spectrum of the field – including clinicians, researchers, educators, industry leaders, and, importantly, individuals with hearing loss and their families. By bringing these communities together, HHTM works to bridge gaps in knowledge, foster collaboration, and elevate dialogue across both professional and consumer audiences. HHTM is also home to This Week in Hearing, a smart, insightful, and engaging weekly podcast that explores the latest trends, technologies, and developments shaping the world of hearing.

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SOURCE SHOEBOX