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A Nonprofit Foundation

The world is loud.

We want to help people navigate it with more clarity and confidence.

Ambient Thread Foundation brings inclusive, personalized audio management to the sound-sensitive community: thoughtful software for people with different hearing and auditory needs.

Support the MissionRead Melissa’s Story
Works with the headphones you already ownAccessibility first, always
Everyday ComfortSituational AwarenessCommunicationConnection

Our Mission

Making everyday listening easier, for everyone.

We believe everyone should have access to high-quality audio tools that support daily life and allow for personalized listening solutions.

The Ambient Thread Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on making everyday listening easier, more accessible, and more inclusive for people with different hearing and auditory needs.

We provide education, peer-informed support, resource navigation, and an open source app for people who have sound sensitivities, such as those who are single-sided deaf or hard of hearing.

Our goal is to create thoughtful, easy-to-use software that helps people feel more comfortable, aware, and connected to the world around them.

By making these tools more accessible and affordable, we hope to improve everyday comfort, situational awareness, communication, and connection for more people.

  • Accessible by design

    Built for people with different hearing and auditory needs, not adapted for them as an afterthought.

  • Personal, not one-size-fits-all

    Each person experiences hearing differently, so listening tools should be customizable to the individual.

  • Affordable on purpose

    Specialized audio hardware can be prohibitively expensive. Software on the phone you already carry should not be.

Melissa Burns, founder of the Ambient Thread Foundation

Melissa Burns, founder of the Ambient Thread Foundation

Melissa’s Story

One morning, the world sounded completely different.

Our founder, Melissa Burns, is newly single-sided deaf. After needing urgent brain surgery to remove a huge acoustic neuroma in 2024, she woke up, at age 37, to a completely different listening experience.

The shift from balanced, two-sided listening to relying on one side made everyday environments feel fundamentally different. Conversations were harder to follow, noise brought a familiar feeling of sensory overload, and situational awareness took far more attention and energy.

“The previous invisible privilege of balanced, two-sided listening became acutely apparent.”

While adjusting to managing sound from a single dominant side, she encountered a consistent frustration: a lack of accessible consumer software options to help balance everyday environmental noise. The existing specialized audio hardware options were prohibitively expensive and lacked customizable consumer flexibility.

That experience became the foundation for our work. Though we are aware that each person experiences hearing loss differently, our goal is to present an innovative, user-friendly mobile application. We believe sophisticated environmental audio solutions should be accessible to anyone interested in optimizing their daily listening.

In Development

An accessibility-focused audio app for iOS.

Our flagship iOS app is being developed to help users get more out of the headphones they already own. Expected in 2027, it will use advanced sound-routing technology to bring features typically associated with specialized, costly audio equipment to standard iOS devices.

  • The headphones you already own

    Designed to help you get more out of standard iOS devices and everyday headphones, with no specialized, costly audio equipment required.

  • Advanced sound routing

    Personalized routing brings features typically associated with expensive dedicated hardware to the phone in your pocket.

  • Built for asymmetrical listening

    Made for people who experience uneven listening environments, including those who rely more heavily on one side for hearing.

  • Follow conversations more easily

    Helping you keep up with the people in front of you, even when the room around you refuses to cooperate.

  • Stay aware of your surroundings

    Support for situational awareness, so you can stay connected to what is happening around you.

  • Comfort in louder spaces

    Feel more at ease in restaurants, gatherings, and busy places that used to feel overwhelming.

This is not about creating a single “correct” way to hear. It is about expanding control, choice, and access for people whose listening needs are too often overlooked.

A note on what this is: the app is intended for general wellness and everyday audio customization. It is not a medical device, a hearing aid, or a treatment for hearing loss. The full statement is in the footer below.

Your listening, your wayLREnvironmentSoftened for comfort
Concept illustration of personalized listening balance

Expected

2027

on iOS

Our Vision

A world where everyday listening feels more accessible.

Ambient Thread Foundation envisions a world where people with different auditory needs can move through daily life with greater confidence, comfort, and connection. Sound is such a large part of everyday moments that people forget so many of us experience sound differently.

We are in our founding stage. That means we are focused on creating a strong, responsible foundation before making promises about outcomes. Right now, Ambient Thread is working to:

  • Further develop the concept and technology behind our future iOS application
  • Learn from people with lived experience of hearing loss, asymmetrical hearing, sound sensitivity, and difficult listening environments
  • Build relationships with accessibility advocates, audio and technology professionals, community organizations, and potential collaborators
  • Explore ways to make personalized audio support more understandable, attainable, and inclusive
  • Shape future educational, advocacy, and community-resource efforts alongside the people they are intended to serve

We believe that people most affected by a problem should have a meaningful voice in shaping the solution, which is why we are community-informed by design. We will be transparent about what we are learning, what we are still exploring, and how feedback informs our next steps.

After all, it was just noise until Ambient Thread entered the chat.

A stage performance in warm light, with flowing fabric wings unfurled

Life is meant to be experienced fully. Sound is a thread that connects us to it.

More Than an App

We are committed to more than building an app. Through advocacy, education, and community-based inclusion efforts, we hope to make helpful listening technology easier to understand and more accessible to the people who could benefit from it.

Help Shape What Comes Next

Ways to get involved.

This work grows through the people who join it. Whatever you can offer, from lived experience to professional skills to a simple introduction, there is a place for it here.

Bring your skills

Offer professional expertise or pro-bono support. We are actively seeking skills such as design, legal, accounting, grant research, photography, social media, translation, and wellness expertise. Apply to be a community advisor, subject-matter advisor, or lived experience contributor.

Share your perspective

Email us your story with permission to share. Give insights about what makes you unique and how hearing loss or sensitivity affects you. Help us understand what support would make the greatest difference.

Make an introduction

Spread the word about us and our mission. Introduce us to potential partners, venues, businesses, sponsors, journalists, clinicians, educators, community leaders, and more.

Join a leadership pipeline

Email us to express your interest in future board, committee, ambassador, or internship roles.

Help shape our resources

Tell us if you would like to review guides or social media posts, test an app concept, join a focus group, or give feedback on website language and accessibility.

Stay in the loop

Become a founding supporter: follow us on Instagram for launch updates, behind-the-scenes progress, and first access to opportunities.

Email Us to Get StartedFollow @AmbientThread

Support the Work

Every donation moves the app closer to launch.

Contributions go toward development and backend support for the foundation’s accessibility-focused iOS app. Donations are processed securely through Zeffy.

Donate

Questions, Answered

Frequently asked questions.

How can I support your mission right now?

You can support us by making a financial gift through our secure donation page, signing up for our volunteer list, or sharing our mission with your community on social media.

Do you accept in-kind donations (supplies, equipment, or services)?

Yes! We welcome professional pro-bono services and specific community supplies for the hearing sensitive communities. Please contact our team before sending items so that we can coordinate.

Is my donation tax-deductible?

The Ambient Thread Foundation is a registered New Mexico non-profit organization currently awaiting its official 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS. Once approved, tax-exempt status is typically retroactive from our formation date (August 5, 2026), meaning your gift may become retroactively tax-deductible. We recommend holding onto your receipt and consulting a tax professional.

Where can I find your EIN or official registration details?

Transparency is core to our mission. Our EIN is 42-4819969, and we are legally registered with the State of New Mexico.

Are there any transaction fees taken out of my online donation?

No! We use Zeffy to process our online donations, which means 100% of your gift goes directly to our mission. Zeffy does not charge us any platform or credit card processing fees.

Can I volunteer remotely from any location?

Yes! Because we are a remote organization, we have plenty of digital and remote volunteer opportunities. Please email us to get started.

Contact Us

We would love to hear from you.

Questions, ideas, lived experience you want to share, or interest in supporting the foundation’s work: every message reaches Melissa.

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