Like lots of other devices, hearing aids are getting smarter all of the time. They’re also more inconspicuous and more stylish than they ever have been. The U.S. census documents that the average American is older as the whole population gets older, and sadly, hearing loss, especially in older people, is extremely common. Roughly 37.5 million American adults and rising say they have some degree of hearing loss.
The good news is hearing technology has had some exciting developments recently that will provide more solutions for dealing with loss of hearing. Some of the developments coming our way are presented here.
Your Overall Health Can be Tracked by Your Hearing Aids
Did you know that hearing aids can keep track of several important vital signs as well or better than a fitness tracker? Not only can it monitor the time in between heartbeats to help detect potential cardiovascular troubles, but it also tracks calories burned, heart rate, step count, and the total number of steps taken. They’re also developing technology that can evaluate other important vital signs such as blood pressure and oxygenation of the blood. Hearing aids also often have other advantages, including the ability to help drown out tinnitus and will improve your social life by helping your overall hearing. Actually, social engagement has been linked to your overall health as well, so really it’s another health statistic we should be looking at. Since hearing aids can now also sync with your smartphone so you can listen to your music, you won’t even need a smartwatch or fitness device?
Streaming Made More Intelligent And Easier
Being connected to your virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa is getting to be more important as people get more addicted to these features. Even if talking to these assistants is not your thing, Bluetooth hearing aids allow you to stream sound from any Bluetooth device such as your smart TV or phone. Consider the benefits of this: You could hear the analysts in the big game clearly over your family’s cheers (or at least steer clear of getting yelled at for turning the volume too high). You will be able to manage your hearing loss more inconspicuously and also appreciate your shows, phone calls, and music more by having them directly in your ears.
Automatic Adjustments
Ever notice how Goodreads seems to know what kind of book you’d like to read? Or how Amazon somehow know which items to recommend? This is the power of artificial intelligence and big data. Current hearing aids can also make changes automatically based on your reactions in the past. For instance, if you lowered the volume the last time you visited the train station, your hearing aid will remember that and turn itself down the next time you visit the train station. They are expanding this technology to include crowdsourcing also, enabling information from other people to inform your hearing aids that you’re entering a loud zone. Over time you will be able to quickly adjust to changes in the hearing environment because your hearing aid will make suggestions based on all the information it has collected.
What? No More Little 312 Batteries?
Why would you want to constantly wrestle with hearing aid batteries? Rechargeable hearing aids are currently available. While you can do a lot to help increase the life of your hearing aids’ batteries, let’s be honest…it’s still annoying and expensive. Better yet, technology to recharge your hearing aids while they are still in your ears is being developed.