The hearing aid revolution being driven by AI – global technology with local solutions here in Scarborough

They could tell whether the wearer was in a quiet situation or in a noisy environment with speech, and would react accordingly to reduce some of the background noise and enhance the speech to make conversations easier to understand.

In 2019 motion sensors were placed inside hearing aids with the AI technology, and features such as fall detection (to alert a carer or family member to the fact the wearer has experienced a fall) and language translation using a smartphone app were added. In recent years though, AI technology in hearing aids has been accelerating at an extremely fast pace to help improve hearing conversations in noisy environments.

Latest advances in hearing aid technology

In September this year, three of the world’s largest hearing aid manufacturers launched their latest technology using AI and Deep Neural Networks (DNN’s), with a fourth manufacturer joining the party a few weeks’ later.

A DNN is an advanced AI system which uses millions of real-world sound samples in its database to help the hearing aids distinguish speech from background noise. It takes sound files from every imaginable environment such as cafes, restaurants, theatre performances and concerts, transport hubs etc. Basically, everywhere from art galleries to zoos and everything in between. This helps the hearing aids create a highly experienced ‘brain’ that is able to separate speech from noise in a way that feels more natural.

Hearing aids analyse sounds in real time and prioritise the ones you need, which is usually speech, and it cleans out the other noises. The result is a listening experience that feels more natural, making conversations much easier.

Be part of the conversation again

For hearing aid wearers, trying to follow conversations where there are groups of people and background noise, has always been exceptionally challenging. When you’re not part of the conversation you feel isolated and alone. The AI and DNN revolution in hearing aids is going a long way to resolving this issue. Because they have ‘listened’ to millions of noise scenes during their training, they can recognise different patterns of speech and highlight them over the noise.

Instead of relying on traditional amplification methods and fixed volume presets, the latest hearing devices use AI sound processing that feels far more natural, intuitive and personalised. DNN powered hearing aids don’t simply make sounds louder, they learn how you listen, how you live and the sounds and conversations that matter the most to you. They feel less like small amplifiers and more like natural extensions of our ears.

The launches of Signia MaX, Phonak EON, Oticon Reveal and the imminent launch of Resound Sensia have highlighted just how far AI and DNN technology has come. These hearing aids are rechargeable with long lasting batteries, sleek and compact, connect seamlessly to smartphones and other devices by Bluetooth, and can be adjusted by the wearer with easy-to-use apps.

Open days for you to hear for yourself!

To discover more about this hearing aid revolution, and experience a demonstration of how they can perform in noisy situations, you can attend one of a series of special Open Days being held by Charlwood Hearing Care on Castle Road in Scarborough on Thursday 22nd, Monday 26th and Thursday 29th October. They will be able to test your hearing and select the right device for you to test out. Contact them on 01723 369505, or visit their website for more information.