SoundFountains' principal, Gary Fisher, has been involved with fountain design since 1993, and has a background in engineering, biomedical engineering, fine art, and design. One of his early fountain designs (US. D394,301) was pictured in the 2001 World Book Health and Medical Annual^* to illustrate the use of an indoor fountain for tinnitus relief. While this fountain (River Rocks^tm) was designed for its appearance and pleasing sound, it was not engineered specifically to generate sounds having wide spectral content, nor did the design specifically address tinnitus issues.

A review of the literature shows that listening to environmental sounds from natural outdoor sources such as streams, waterfalls, and oceans helps some persons cope with tinnitus. Man-made sources such as showers, faucets, and outdoor fountains also have been reported to reduce the impact of tinnitus and in some persons have even initiated residual inhibition of their tinnitus for brief periods of time.

Gary became personally interested in tinnitus when in 2005 he developed tinnitus as a consequence of noise exposure. His experience with fountain design led him to develop several indoor fountains primarily designed for their sound quality for use by persons like himself with tinnitus. The aim was to generate sound spectra with water and air mixes that would include the frequencies often encompassing most persons' perceived tinnitus. The SonaCube is his latest and most sophisticated fountain designed for this purpose.

In addition to fountain technology, Gary is also developing non-fountain-based devices for reducing perceived tinnitus sounds. One of these involves an audio-visual aid incorporating acoustic surround sound, and video imagery.

Gary holds a Ph.D. in Engineering with Department Distinction from UCLA and is a member of Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi. He has a number of utility and design patents some of which relate to fountain technology, and two of which relate to behavioral modification.

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^*World Book Health and Medical Annual (2001); World Book, Inc., Chicago, Pg. 217.