Hearing aids, like many other devices, are getting smarter, less conspicuous and more stylish every day, and just in time. The U.S. census documents that the average American is older as the population as a whole continues to age, and unfortunately, loss of hearing, especially in older people, is really common. Roughly 37.5 million adults in America and rising say they have some amount of hearing loss.
The good news is hearing technology has had some thrilling developments recently that will provide more solutions for treating loss of hearing. Here are just a few of the innovations that are now available.
Your Overall Health Can be Tracked by Your Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are equal to if not better than a fitness tracker at keeping track of many vital signs. Not only can it track the time in between heartbeats to help detect potential cardiovascular issues, 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 key vital signs including blood pressure and oxygenation of the blood. There are other possible benefits that come with hearing aids, including the ability to help drown out tinnitus and will help your overall hearing so that your social life will improve also. Actually, social interaction is another statistic we should pay attention to because it has been connected to your general health. Since hearing aids can now also sync with your smartphone so you can listen to your songs, who needs a smartwatch or fitness device?
Simpler And Smarter Streaming
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 you resist the allure of talking directly to these assistants, hearing aids with Bluetooth give key features such as streaming music directly from a smart device like your phone or maybe even streaming directly from your smart TV. Just consider the benefits: You could hear the analysts in the next Super Bowl clearly over your family’s fun (or at least avoid getting yelled at for turning the volume too high). You will be able to manage your loss of hearing more inconspicuously and also enjoy your music, phone calls, and shows more by hearing 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 seems to know which products to recommend? This is the power of artificial intelligence and big data. Modern hearing aids can also make adjustments automatically according to 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, enabling information from other users to inform your hearing aids that you’re entering a loud zone. Over time the hearing aids analyze all this information to make suggestions and automatic corrections, so you can adjust quickly to variations in the hearing environment.
What? No More Tiny 312 Batteries?
Who wants to continuously struggle with hearing aid batteries? You can now get rechargeable hearing aids. Even though you can do a lot to help extend the life of your hearing aids’ batteries, let’s be honest…it’s still pricey and aggravating. Even better, they are developing technology that will recharge hearing aids without even having to take them out of your ears.