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Tag: hearing aid app

  • Hearing Aid App Doing Wonders for the Impaired

    It’s amazing the smartphone apps that are out there these days.

    A new, free app called ReSound Smart — created by GN ReSound in Denmark — links to hearing aids to help the impaired add volume to their devices and use them as headphones for telephones, YouTube videos and music.

    “People will always need really good hearing aids, but moving forward, what will differentiate competitors will be connectivity (to smartphones), and it will need apps,”said Lars Viksmoen, chief executive of GN ReSound.

    The app also allows users to remotely configure settings like volume, treble and bass on their hearing aid devices and remembers particular settings for different venues.

    “Let’s say you’re in a place you go to all the time, such as a coffee shop. You can make an adjustment and then it will geotag your location, so the next time you walk in, it will remember your settings,” said Laurel Christensen, GN ReSound’s chief audiology officer.

    The app can convert the iPhone into a microphone, streaming conversations into the hearing aids, helping the impaired hear what is being said better.

    “I think we’re going to see an explosion in this area because of baby boomers. They’re into technology and they want to be connected,” she said.

    There are some risks to the app said Steve Aiken, associate professor of audiology at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

    “One is that people could damage their hearing further if they adjust the settings incorrectly. And the other is that they miss out on the benefits if they’re not configured properly because it takes people’s brains a while to acclimatize to sounds they haven’t heard in a long time,” said Aiken.

    According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, About 36 million American adults have some hearing loss.

    Image via YouTube

  • Hearing Aid Apps Make Devices More Convenient

    Have you ever had a hard time hearing a phone conversation or enjoying your iPad or laptop because the volume doesn’t get loud enough and you are hard of hearing? You aren’t alone and luckily, some app developers have created a hearing aid app that will help with this problem.

    According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 36 million American adults have some hearing loss but only one fifth of them wear hearing aids or other types of hearing devices.

    Many people refuse to wear hearing aids and devices because they are uncomfortable, unsightly, or inconvenient. Hearing aid makers have continued to make different types of hearing aids to fit everyone’s needs, but it has not had an effect on more people wearing them.

    The new hearing aid apps can be used with smartphones to make calls more audible or other devices such as iPods and iPads, to improve the volume and make music, videos, and games more enjoyable for people with hearing problems. They also make the decibel range higher.

    “People will always need really good hearing aids, but moving forward, what will differentiate competitors will be connectivity (to smartphones), and it will need apps,” Lars Viksmoen, chief executive of GN ReSound, a maker of hearing aids based in Denmark, said.

    Another benefit of the apps is that they help make busy conversations more clear and you can even use it to preset your device to adjust to the volume or decibel that you desire or need.

    This new technology is likely to improve the lives of many people and will grow over the next few years to include more devices and more uses. If you have a hearing problem, check out one of the hearing aid apps available in the app store or app market.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons