Hearing aids, like many other devices, are getting smarter, less conspicuous 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 hearing loss is, unfortunately, extremely common, especially in older adults. Roughly 37.5 million American adults and rising say they have some degree of hearing loss.
Fortunately hearing technology has had some thrilling advancements recently that will offer more possibilities for dealing with hearing loss. Some of the developments now available are presented here.
Hearing Aids That Keep Track of Your General Health
Hearing aids are equal to if not better than a fitness tracker at keeping track of many vital signs. Not only can it monitor the time between heartbeats to help detect potential cardiovascular concerns, but it also tracks calories burned, heart rate, step count, and the total number of steps taken. They are even working on technology that can measure blood pressure, oxygenation of the blood and other relevant vital signs. There are other possible benefits that come with hearing aids, including the ability to help drown out tinnitus and will improve your social life by bettering your overall hearing. Actually, social interaction is another metric we should look at because it has been linked to your overall health. Since hearing aids can now also sync with your smartphone so you can listen to your music, who needs a smartwatch or fitness device?
Simpler And More intelligent Streaming
As we become more dependant on virtual assistants including Alexa and Siri, being connected and able to communicate with them is getting more important. Even if you ignore the enticement of talking directly to these assistants, hearing aids with Bluetooth permit you to stream sound from any Bluetooth device such as your smart TV or phone. Just think of the benefits: You could hear the analysts in the next Super Bowl clearly over your family’s cheers (or at least steer clear of getting yelled at for having the volume too loud). You will be capable of managing your hearing loss more inconspicuously and also appreciate your shows, phone calls, and music more by having them directly in your ears.
Automatic Adjustments
Did you ever notice how Goodreads seems to know what kind of book you like to read? Or how Amazon somehow know which items to suggest? This is the power of artificial intelligence and big data. Current hearing aids can also make adjustments automatically according to your reactions in the past. It will remember that you turn down the volume when you go into the train station and do that automatically the next time it recognizes you’ve entered the station (or any other situation with to much background noise). They are expanding this technology to include crowdsourcing as well, allowing information from other people to inform your hearing aids that you’re approaching a loud zone. Over time you can adjust quickly to changes in the hearing environment because your hearing aid will make recommendations based on all the information it has collected.
You Won’t Need to Keep Changing Those Tiny Batteries
Why would you want to continuously struggle with hearing aid batteries? Rechargeable hearing aids are now on the market. Even though you can do a lot to help increase the life of your hearing aids’ batteries, truth be told…it’s still costly and annoying. Better yet, they are developing technology to recharge hearing aids without even needing to take them out of your ears.