Like lots of other devices, hearing aids are getting more intuitive all of the time. They’re also more inconspicuous and cooler than ever before. The average American is older, reports The Us Census Department, as the whole population gets older, and hearing loss is, unfortunately, really common, particularly in older adults. About 37.5 million American adults and rising say they have some amount of hearing loss.
Luckily hearing technology has had some exciting advancements recently that will provide more solutions for dealing with loss of hearing. Here are just a few of the innovations that are now available.
Hearing Aids That Keep Track of Your Overall Health
Hearing aids are as good if not better than a fitness tracker at tracking many vital signs. Not only can it keep track of step count, how many calories were burned, the total number of steps you took and heart rate, it also checks the time between heartbeats to help find any cardiovascular issues. They’re also developing technology that can assess other important vital signs such as blood pressure and oxygenation of the blood. Hearing aids also often have other benefits, like the ability to help drown out tinnitus and will enhance your social life by bettering your overall hearing. Actually, social engagement has been connected to your overall health also, so actually it’s another health statistic we should be following. With these new hearing aids, you won’t even need a fitness device or smartwatch because the hearing aids can sync to your smartphone so you can listen to music.
Streaming Made Easier And More Intelligent
Being connected to your virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa is becoming more important as people get more attached to these features. Even if you resist the lure of talking directly to these assistants, Bluetooth hearing aids offer key features including streaming music directly from a smart device like your phone or maybe even streaming directly from a smart TV. Just think of the benefits: You could hear the analysts in the big game clearly over your family’s fun (or at least steer clear of getting yelled at for having the volume too loud). You will be capable of managing your loss of hearing more discreetly and also enjoy your music, phone calls, and shows more by hearing 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? This is the power of artificial intelligence and big data. Current hearing aids can also make changes automatically based on your responses in the past. As an example, if you turned down the volume the last time you visited the train station, your hearing aid will remember that and turn itself down the next time you go into the train station. They are also beginning to network your hearing aids with other devices belonging to people near you in order to inform you of a possible loud noise danger nearby. Over time you can quickly adjust to variations in the hearing environment because your hearing aid will make suggestions based on all the information it has gathered.
You Won’t Need to Keep Replacing 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 extend the life of your hearing aids’ batteries, let’s be honest…it’s still expensive and annoying. Even better, technology to recharge your hearing aids while they are still in your ears is being developed.