Hearing loss, which can be caused by age, genetics, medications, stress, and injury, is one of the most common disabilities worldwide. Often concurrent with the condition is tinnitus, which is characterized by hearing a ringing sound or a variety of sounds despite the absence of acoustic stimuli.
In the United States, the estimated prevalence of hearing loss is 72.88 million, accounting for over one-fifth (22.2%) of the total population. Although many cases of hearing loss in the US were reported to be mild, moderate and severe cases are known to be disabling and thus responsible for approximately 2.24 million years lived with disability.
However, regardless of the cause and severity of the disability, hearing loss is significantly associated with a reduced quality of life, mainly through measures like cognition and social well-being. Such outcomes make assistive technology crucial for deaf individuals, as they can mitigate the disabling effects of hearing loss or impairment. As this article will discuss, hearing solutions also continue to advance to better cater to individualized needs.
The benefits of assistive hearing technology
According to the World Health Organization, assistive technology refers to devices, systems, and services commonly used to improve or maintain the functional capabilities of people with disabilities. Whether they increase a person’s abilities to balance out the effects of their disability or provide an alternative way of performing tasks, assistive technology plays an instrumental role in enhancing the quality of life. For deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals, assistive technology typically comes in the form of hearing aids, cochlear implants, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices that help with their speech and language impediments.
For instance, research published in the journal Educational Technology Research and Development found that hearing-impaired students (21.43%) use assistive tools like websites, social networks, mobile learning, robotics, hardware, and software as instruments for both accessibility and inclusion. Incorporating these technologies into classroom instruction and the overall curriculum also contributes to improving the learning process, increasing autonomy and independence, and facilitating the acquisition of social skills.
Meanwhile, older adults who experience age-related hearing loss or impairment use assistive technologies to achieve self-reliance and independence, especially if they continue to live at home with minimal or no assistance from carers. At any age, assistive technology enables deaf individuals to be productive and fully integrated into society, making the following advancements in hearing solutions beneficial to their health and quality of life.
Notable advancements in hearing solutions
Hearing glasses
By embedding over-the-counter hearing aids into smart glasses, Nuance’s latest hearing technology serves as an all-in-one vision and hearing solution with high-quality sound engineering. These hearing glasses are thus practical for individuals with combined vision and hearing loss, such as older adults whose ability to see and hear clearly both decline with age. Through their proprietary beamforming microphone technology, the glasses can minimize background noise and reduce listening effort, making them suitable for work settings and day-to-day conversations. Beyond addressing their mild to moderate hearing concerns, users can choose from timeless frame styles and lens options like prescription and Transitions.
Wearable technology
While hearing glasses provide another wearable approach to conventional hearing aids, more and more companies are developing wearable technology integrated with hearing solutions for a wider range of holistic health benefits. A notable example is the UK startup EarSwitch, which is working on a small, earbud-like device that not only functions as an over-the-counter hearing aid but can also monitor key health metrics like temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels. Collectively termed as ‘hearables,’ these devices provide deaf individuals with access to real-time health information and wireless connectivity to other devices like smartphones.
AI-powered hearing aids
In light of the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in work, education, and daily life, a previous post discussed the use of AI-generated voices to leverage audio technology for digital training. Aside from being cost-effective, AI can tailor voices to different audiences, improving the overall quality of and engagement with training content. But beyond generating voices from written text, the introduction of AI-powered hearing aids proves that the emerging tech can also enhance speech and communication for deaf individuals. Specifically, the recently launched ELEHEAR Beyond Pro harnesses the speed and processing power of AI to enhance sound quality and provide real-time translation for deaf users.
Smart captioning devices
Captioning devices have always been around as reliable assistive devices in various listening environments, such as cinemas that provide closed-captioning within the viewer’s visual field through a pair of glasses. However, the emergence of smart captioning devices like augmented reality (AR) smart glasses means users can better communicate in day-to-day meetings and conversations through instant transcription and automatic live captioning superimposed on the natural field of view. The XanderGlasses, for instance, are all the more reliable as they do not require cloud service or a Wi-Fi connection to translate speech into text.
If these advances in hearing solutions interest you and you want to help develop more innovative, inclusive, and accessible assistive technology for people with disabilities, consider checking out IEMLabs’ accredited courses and learning services in tech fields like cloud computing, cybersecurity, and more.
