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CES never disappoints when it comes to new ideas in technology. The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 9-12 will showcase new hearing devices and hearing-related technology. Over the past three years, over-the-counter (OTC) aids, captioning glasses, and innovations in hearables, processing strategies, sensors for health and fitness monitoring, and components have taken the stage of the CES show floor.
This year, there are dozens of new and established companies with products at CES 2024 that will doubtlessly impact the future of hearing care. Below is a quick overview of what we think are some of the most exciting technologies featured at this year’s expo. Stay tuned to HearingTracker for more about their innovations.
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Concha Labs is unveiling an OTC hearing aid with hearing personalization technology called Soundscope to help people hear more clearly. Amy Li, who has a bioengineering degree from UC Berkeley and worked at Eargo, heads the company. Currently, only a little information is available about the product. Concha’s website shows receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids and addresses the need to “help users control their hearing settings from their phone, anytime, anywhere.” We expect more information to come soon! For details, visit the Concha Labs website. See it at: Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Hall G, Booth #60448.
ELEHEAR reports it uses the “groundbreaking voClear technology platform” that uses Deep Neural Network (DNN) algorithms trained with 18 million scenarios. The product is an FDA-registered OTC hearing aid that features rechargeability (up to 20 hours of use, with an extra 7 charges from the Premium charging case), Bluetooth streaming for iOS and Android, and a 32 kHz high-definition sampling rate and directional microphones. The company’s Alpha Pro OTC hearing aids are offered now on the company’s website for $699 (discounted from $999). See it at: LVCC, North Hall, Booth #8137.
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Nuheara is the Australia-based maker of the HP Pro OTC hearing aid, Nuheara IQBuds2 MAX hearable, and IQstream TV listening system. HearingTracker has consistently cited IQBuds2 MAX as one of the best values in hearables and personal sound amplification products (PSAPs). And, like the MAX, HP Pro uses Nuheara's Ear ID™ system to automatically calibrate the devices to your individual hearing configuration; the HP Hearing App measures your hearing thresholds for both ears in just 10 minutes or less. The hearing aid is Bluetooth-compatible with both iOS and Android. See it at: LVCC North Hall, Booth #8425.
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Switzerland-based Sonova, the world’s largest hearing aid manufacturer and parent company to Phonak and Unitron hearing aid brands, is showcasing its Sennheiser headphones and hearables, as well as enhanced hearing solutions and soundbars for audiophiles at CES 2024. During the past year, Sennheiser has released its Sennheiser All-Day Clear and All-Day Clear Slim OTC hearing aids, as well as its popular Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus hearable. Sennheiser has its products at the Wynn Encore Hospitality Suites.
Alango Technologies makes products that improve the quality of voice communication and audio experience in a variety of real-life scenarios, reducing different types of noise, enhancing speech, canceling acoustic echo, and dynamically equalizing signal volume and spectrum according to dynamic acoustic conditions. Additionally, Alango offers advanced technological solutions for hearing enhancement and personalizing sound. At CES 2024, see Alango's technologies for hearing enhancement including its patent-pending user's own voice attenuation, external sound acquisition for cars that can help alert people with hearing loss to emergency vehicles while driving, and sound personalization including experiencing a real-time hearing loss simulator that allows hearing loss experience of different levels and audiometric configurations. See it at: Flamingo Suite and Knowles Venetian Resort, Toscana Suite #3805.
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Hard of hearing and deaf e-gamers can now visualize key sounds like footsteps and alerts with Audio Radar, a product from Airdrop Gaming designed to transform game sounds into audio signals. It visualizes directional game audio events and is reportedly easy to use, with plug-and-play compatibility and customizable features like sensitivity and light behavior. It’s a versatile addition to any gaming setup; the product is designed to work with Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, making games more accessible and enjoyable for all. See it at: Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Booth #60704.
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BeAware, the creator of free and fast transcription apps for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, is launching two new apps at CES 2024. The BeAware Conference Captioning app is designed to provide Deaf and hard-of-hearing people with quick accessibility to any in-person event within 15 seconds for real-time captioning for speeches, live events, press conferences, and trade shows. Event organizers can capture live transcriptions, allowing Deaf attendees to stream captions in real-time on their smartphones, ensuring an inclusive experience for all participants—especially important for emergency press conferences and alerts.
HealthScribe is a tool used in hospital emergency rooms to provide offline fast and privacy-safe live transcriptions for Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients, as well as translations for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). The live transcriptions and translations are available while the patient is offline, making it ideal for geriatric hospitals and medical institutions with a diverse patient language base. It’s free for patients, and licensed and paid by hospitals depending on the implementation scale. See it at: Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Hall G, Booth 60464.
Priced at $3 per month, ClearSense is a noise-canceling app that improves hearing in noisy environments for many users. Using a smartphone and earphones, it has been developed as a cost-effective substitute for pricier professional hearing aids and uses Korea-headquartered mpWAV’s technology for noise reduction without distorting target sounds, says the company. See it at: Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Hall G, Booth #62813.
Sound Oasis has developed and marketed a wide variety of tinnitus remediation and sound therapy machines for people dealing with tinnitus, insomnia, stress, and a variety of chronic health issues. These include the company's Deluxe Sleep and Tinnitus Sound Therapy System S-6000, Sleep Therapy Pillow and Speakers, and World’s Smallest Sound Machine®. See it at: LVCC, North Hall, Exhibit #8237.
EssilorLuxottica, an international leader in eyewear design with brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, Lens Crafters, and more, has announced its expansion into the hearing solutions market. By leveraging its acquisition of Israeli startup Nuance Hearing, EssilorLuxottica is poised to introduce a revolutionary hearing product tailored to address the needs of a staggering 1.25 billion people worldwide suffering from mild to moderate hearing loss. See it at: LVCC North Hall, Exhibit #8725.
XanderGlasses is one of the most promising devices in the newly emerging captioning glasses category of products for both hard-of-hearing and normal-hearing people. Powered by Vuzix Shield (LVCC, North Hall, booth #8237), XanderGlasses have an ergonomic design, are simple to use, and can be worn straight out of the box without pairing them to your smartphone or installing the app. Multiple noise-canceling microphones around the frames pick up speech from the conversation around you and send speech-bubble captions directly to the lens. Xander claims their glasses deliver an average of 90% accuracy in captions and do even better when connected to WiFi and in less noisy settings. The glasses charge via a USB-C port and have an estimated battery life of 6-7 hours of conversation time. The company is currently working on a translation feature. See it at: Venetian Expo, Halls A-D, Booth #53623.
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France-headquartered Pulse Audition offers intelligent audio glasses that help you hear in noisy environments. With Pulse Frames, where you look is who you hear. A cutting-edge audio processor allows for low latency and low energy calculation of AI speech enhancement and signal processing algorithms. Embedded electronics with open-ear directive sound transmission enable the glasses to detect and enhance what you want to hear. See it at: Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Hall G, Booth #604113.
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Talos, based in Hong Kong, has developed the Lemuna open-ear audio glasses that support Perceptual Audio, use automatic noise cancellation, and high quality call performance using a Qualcomm chip. See it at: Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Hall G, Booth 63400.
TranscribeGlass is developing comfortable wearable glasses that transcribe speech for d/Deaf, Hard of Hearing, elderly, and other people who want to improve their comprehension of spoken communication using captions. The glasses show closed captions from any source on a transparent display in your field of vision.
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Absolute Audio Labs (AAL) has announced the 3rd generation of its PYOUR Audio platform, as well as a new collaboration with semiconductor company Renesas. PYOUR Audio is hearing enhancement software designed to run on generic Bluetooth chipsets, providing superior audio, speech intelligibility, and wireless connectivity for (OTC) hearing aids and True-Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds. According to AAL, this can make RIC hearing aids almost 25% smaller than before, in line with conventional premium RICs, with strongly improved battery life and a new fitting engine for music. PYOUR Audio 3.0 meets all acoustic, functional, and operational requirements that can be expected of top-performing prescription hearing aids. This includes full-day operation without a single charge. In the process of developing PYOUR audio semiconductor manufacturer Renesas has selected the PYOUR Audio 3.0 hearing suite as the solution for hearing enhancement supported on a new family of connectivity products. See it at: Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Booth #62100.
AONDevices Inc develops super low-power, high-accuracy edge AI solutions. Based in Irvine, Calif, the company's cutting-edge AI processors and algorithms are designed for always-on devices, delivering high performance in voice, sound, and sensor applications across a wide range of use cases from Personal Devices like earbuds to Smart Home and Automotive. See it at: LVCC North Hall, Exhibit #9274.
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Want to see a demonstration about one of the most exciting revolutions in audio technology and something that may very well transform our listening experience with hearing aids, headphones, and earbuds? Bluetooth SIG will be demonstrating its Auracast broadcast technology along with its other technologies. See it at: LVCC, North Hall Mtg Rm N101.
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Deep Hearing Corp provides AI solutions designed to eliminate noise and howling. The company uses information-based noise reduction technology, which is the result of years of research on the convergence of AI and human hearing. Through sound signal preprocessing technology, the company reports it can filter out background noise, leaving only the target voice. See it at: Venetian Expo, Eureka Park, Hall G, Booth 63301.
Netherlands-based Dopple reports it is taking custom-fit hearing protection to new levels with a patented, fully integrated Bluetooth True-Wireless Module that uses in-ear signal processing to balance awareness of surroundings for safety, the ability to communicate in extremely loud environments and listen to music at safe sound levels. See it at: Venetian Expo, Hall G, Booth #62100.
Silicon Valley-based Femtosense will show its Sparse Processing Unit 001 (SPU-001) AI inference processor, which offers ultra-low-power AI features that are ready for deployment in hearable and Internet of Things (IoT) products, including true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds, headsets, hearing aids, and remote controls. Available models include those for AI Noise Reduction (latency, power, performance-optimized, multi-mic variants) and an AI Voice Interface, including wakeword, keyword, and sentence understanding. You can also see earbud prototypes, a hearing-aid development platform, aviation/motorcycle helmet prototypes, voice-controlled appliances, and more. See it at: Westgate Hospitality Suite #730.
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GreenWaves is a fabless semiconductor company based in Grenoble, France, that designs easy-to-program ultra-low-power RISC-V processors that can interpret and transform rich data sources, including images and sounds, using AI and signal processing. The company’s GAP9 processor is designed for true-wireless stereo (TWS) products with ultra-low latency noise cancellation, neural network-based background elimination, and 3D sound in hearables.
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IDUN audio has partnered with Greenwaves to showcase a full spatial audio experience featuring head tracking on a very low power budget. IDUN develops dynamic spatial audio solutions, allowing users to personalize their listening environment, selecting scenes and rooms embedded in the headphones. Augmented Hearing, an AI hearing tech firm that uses research from the Danish Technical University of Denmark and is chaired by former Oticon Medical President Jes Olsen, is also using the GreenWaves GAP9 platform to enhance its AI-powered approaches for enhancing speech clarity and reducing background noise. See it at: Venetian Resort, Suite 29-309
Knowles Corp has been a longtime leading global supplier of microphones and receivers for hearing aids and True Wireless Stereo (TWS) audio earphones and hearables. Although its displays are intended for audio device developers, you can often get a good sense of some of the upcoming innovations in the audio world by visiting the company.
At CES 2024, Knowles will demo its balanced armature (BA) drivers, which are implemented in recently launched products like the Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2, Razer’s Moray in-ear monitor (IEM) for streaming and gaming, and the JLab Epic Lab Edition earbuds. The JLab Epic is the first in the market to be tuned to the Knowles Preferred Listening Response Curve for an “unparalleled, crystal-clear sound experience.”
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Knowles will also exhibit its Digital Vibration Sensor (V2S) for new applications across markets, including consumer electronics and healthcare. Knowles says the V2S is a great solution for OEMs, with clear signal capture in various form factors like clear phone calls in noisy environments for earphones, self-voice and echo effects in hearing aids, and may even have applications in telehealth for capturing the human heartbeat. See it at: Venetian Resort, Toscana Suite #3805.
MindMics, the leader in proven wearable infrasonic sound-based technology®, has developed a clinically validated personal heart health and well-being platform. The company's wireless earbud heart health monitor and app capture are designed to capture insights into heart bio-signals to help improve health. The technology is embedded in easy-to-wear earbuds so they can fit into people's everyday life. See it at: Venetian Expo, Halls A-D, Smart Home, Booth #53623.
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Tuned's patented, AI-powered app-based hearing aid solution is said to combine audiology and psychology to enhance user engagement, motivation, and education, optimizing the efficacy of their hearing aid experience while minimizing product-related issues and service costs. Tuned's FDA-approved AI technology is now being integrated into OTC hearing aids, offering opportunities for private branding and retail and online sales. JVC has partnered with Tuned and longtime hearing aid developer and manufacturer Intricon to introduce the JVC EHZ1500 OTC hearing aid. See it at: Venetian Expo, Halls A-D, Smart Home, Booth 53623.
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xMEMS has announced an innovative reference design for the fast-growing sleep buds product segment that will be available for demonstration at CES 2024. The Skyline DynamicVent technology, which is also being employed in some hearing aids, delivers improved comfort and automatic ambient control using a physical vent and DSP noise detection. Skyline can be closed for superior noise blocking, or opened to vent the ear and reduce occlusion effects. xMEMs will also be showcasing Cowell, reportedly the world’s smallest solid-state micro speaker that delivers superior high-frequency response and clarity, plus a wider sound stage for TWS earphones and hearing aids. Montara Plus, is said to be the world’s highest output MEMS micro speaker, capable of sound pressure levels up to 120 dB at 200 Hz, making it an ideal full-bandwidth transducer for audiophile-grade in-ear monitors and high-end over-ear headphones. See it at: Venetians Suite 29-235.
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You can view all the exhibitors at the CES website. CES features a giant expo, so we’re bound to miss some important exhibits and products. If so, please let the author know at karl@hearingtracker.com.
Karl Strom ist der Chefredakteur von HearingTracker. Er war Gründungsredakteur des The Hearing Review und berichtet seit über 30 Jahren über die Hörhilfeindustrie.
