Several times recently, Sound Advice was asked what future hearing systems for today’s children and young adults, might look like. Remember, before 2007 iPhones and mobile, touchscreen devices were unknown – while developers are now addressing wireless, inter-device connectivity and miniaturisation.
Connected Hearing
There’s good news for child and adult wearers of future hearing-devices, who will by default access tiny wireless-compatible, power-packed chips. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute of Reliability and Microintegration IZM in Berlin, are focusing to longer battery lifespan and wireless charging options.
Read: Invisibility Cloak For Hearing Aids and Implants
Charging Cochlear Implants From A Smartphone
Researchers at MIT are using the body’s kinetic energy (from ossicles, in the ear) to part-power a tiny chip for implantable devices such as ear implants, pacemakers and insulin pumps, with extra energy from smartphones.
Smartphone Management
Direct control of hearing via wireless micro-chips will be viable from smart-devices of all types. In short, that’s one less remote control to carry for hearing-devices, which today’s youth wearers will appreciate.
Hearing-devices are already manageable from a smartphone, with today’s young people tipped to be particularly quick to use device managing-apps to locate their hearing-devices when these get mislaid at home or elsewhere.
Read: New hearing-aids are Google Glass for the ears
Wearable Neck-Fields
Finally, a stylish pendant necklace from Wear doubles as a wearable soundfield. Wired earphones are used at present, but tests with wireless earbuds are on the inventors’ radar now that Kickstarter funding is secured.
More Reading
- New Windows On The World – Business Post Feature
- Cochlear implants – with no exterior hardware
- MIT News – cochlear implants with wireless recharging
- A hearing device with no external hardware
- Watch a heart’s natural motion power medical implants
- Irish researchers’ solution doubles battery life of smartphones, devices
- Wear It – TypeWell transcriber develops new assistive device
- ‘What Are Wireless Hearing Aids?’
- Consumer Technology For Single-Sided Hearing
- Hearing Devices Double As Tiny Media Devices
- Smartphone Apps For Bluetooth Hearing-Devices
Leave a Reply