Hearing aids, as with many other devices, are getting smarter, more inconspicuous and more stylish all the time, and just in time. The average American is older, reports The Us Census Department, as the population as a whole ages, and loss of hearing is, sadly, extremely common, particularly in older adults. Approximately 37.5 million American adults and rising say they have some amount of hearing loss.
The good news is hearing technology has had some exciting developments recently that will provide more solutions for treating hearing loss. Here are just a few of the innovations that are now available.
Your General Health Can be Tracked by Your Hearing Aids
Did you know that hearing aids can track several important vital signs as well or better than a fitness tracker? Not only can it track the time between heartbeats to help find potential cardiovascular concerns, but it also tracks calories burned, heart rate, step count, and the total number of steps taken. They’re also developing technology that can measure other important vital signs like blood pressure and oxygenation of the blood. There are other possible advantages that come with hearing aids, including the ability to help drown out tinnitus and will enhance your social life by bettering your general hearing. Actually, social engagement has been connected to your general health also, so actually it’s another health metric we should be following. Since hearing aids can now also sync with your smartphone so you can listen to your songs, who needs a smartwatch or fitness device?
Streaming Made Simpler And Smarter
Being connected to your virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa is becoming more important as people get more addicted to these features. Even if using these assistants is not your thing, Bluetooth hearing aids permit you to stream sound from any Bluetooth device such as your smart TV or phone. Just think of the advantages: You can avoid getting yelled at for having the Volume too loud while watching this year’s Big Game in a room full of loud friends. You will be capable of managing your loss of hearing more inconspicuously and also enjoy your music, phone calls, and shows more by having them directly in your ears.
Automatic Adjustments
Have you noticed that you get ads from Goodreads and they seem to already know what type of books you like to read? Or how Amazon seems to know which items to suggest? That’s because big data and artificial intelligence are very powerful. The latest hearing aids can also make changes automatically based on your reactions in the past. As an example, if you turned down the volume the last time you went to 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 as well, allowing information from other people to notify your hearing aids that you’re approaching a loud zone. Over time you can quickly adjust to changes in the hearing environment because your hearing aid will make recommendations based on all the information it has collected.
What? No More Little 312 Batteries?
Who wants to constantly struggle 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 face it…it’s still annoying and costly. What’s better, they are developing technology that will recharge hearing aids without even having to take them out of your ears.