Like lots of other devices, hearing aids are getting more intuitive all of the time. They’re also less conspicuous and more stylish than ever before. The average American is older, reports The Us Census Department, as the whole population gets older, and unfortunately, hearing loss, especially in older people, is really common. Approximately 37.5 million American adults say they have some amount of hearing loss, and these numbers are going up.
Fortunately more options for treating hearing loss are available due to amazing breakthroughs in recent hearing technology. Some of the developments now available are presented here.
Hearing Aids That Track Your General Health
Hearing aids are equal to if not better than a fitness tracker at tracking many vital signs. Not only can it track the time between heartbeats to help find potential cardiovascular concerns, but it also monitors calories burned, heart rate, step count, and the total number of steps taken. They’re also developing technology that can measure other significant vital signs such as blood pressure and oxygenation of the blood. There are other possible benefits that come with hearing aids, like the ability to help drown out tinnitus and will enhance your social life by helping your general hearing. Actually, social engagement is another statistic we should look at because it has been connected to your overall health. Since hearing aids can now also sync with your smartphone so you can listen to your tunes, you won’t even need a smartwatch or fitness device?
Smarter and Easier Streaming
As we become more dependant on virtual assistants including Alexa and Siri, being connected and able to communicate with them is becoming more important. Even if you resist the allure of talking directly to these assistants, Bluetooth hearing aids provide key advantages including streaming music directly from a smart device like your phone or even streaming directly from a smart TV. Just think of the advantages: You could hear the analysts in the next Super Bowl clearly over your family’s fun (or at least avoid getting yelled at for having the volume too loud). Being able to directly stream music, phone calls, shows and more right to your ears not only helps you hear and appreciate them more, but it will also help you manage your hearing loss discreetly.
Automatic Adjustments
Did you ever notice how Goodreads seems to know what type of book you’d like to read? Or how all your favorite kinds of things get promoted to you by Amazon? This is the power of artificial intelligence and big data. Current hearing aids can also make changes automatically according to your responses in the past. For example, if you lowered the volume the last time you visited the train station, your hearing aid will recall that and turn itself down the next time you go into the train station. They are expanding this technology to include crowdsourcing also, allowing information from other users to inform your hearing aids that you’re approaching a loud zone. Over time the hearing aids analyze all this information to make recommendations and automatic corrections, so you can adjust quickly to changes in the hearing environment.
No More Little Batteries to Replace.
Who wants to constantly struggle with hearing aid batteries? Rechargeable hearing aids are now available. While you can do a lot to help extend the life of your hearing aids’ batteries, let’s be honest…it’s still frustrating and expensive. Better still, technology to recharge your hearing aids while they are still in your ears is being developed.