Reading Glasses and Hearing Aids. Smart or FDA-Approved. Pick One.

Making Audio Augmentation useful for everyone, or pursue the regulatory requirements of OTC hearing aids. This article offers a useful perspective regarding the guidance documents published by the US Food and Drug Administration regarding improved access to hearing aid technology. The agency proposes a rule to establish a new category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids - to be sold directly to consumers in stores or online without a medical exam or a fitting by an audiologist. But most audio manufacturers are better off by not pursuing this FDA-approved OTC market. Doing so will simply hinder critical experimentation and innovation.

There’s a lot happening in the true wireless stereo (TWS) category and this market update article intends to provide a quick overview of the state-of the-art technologies and platforms in the space, as well as some reference approaches in product design. This audioXpress Market Update addresses what is happening in this vibrant product category in 2021.

Mike Klasco writes about xMEMS Piezo Microspeakers. How Piezo MEMS Address Development Challenges to Combine the Compact, Consumer-Friendly Form Factor of TWS With Hearing Assistance Features Into a Single Product. How Piezoelectric MEMS Microspeakers devices promise to enhance OTC hearing augmentation solutions, increasing comfort, while adding features and extending battery life. This article was originally published in The Audio Voice newsletter, June 3, 2021 (#330)

Adding a valuable perspective to the topic of True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds and hearables development, Jean-Marc Luneau (7 Sensing Software) details meaningful new features and improvements for brands to differentiate their products and make them stand out in today’s crowded market. This article was originally published in audioXpress April 2021.

7 Sensing Software, an embedded software development company active in audio processing and machine learning targeting wearable and hearable applications, announced that it joined the Qualcomm Extension Program. With this confirmation, 7 Sensing Software is now able to offer its Hearing Augmentation and Pure Voice solutions for wireless earbuds and headsets running on the ultra low power, premium-tier Qualcomm QCC5100 Bluetooth SoC family.

At CES 2020, Nuheara announced its most advanced true wireless hearing buds, the IQbuds2 MAX. Building upon its successful IQBuds truly wireless platform launched in 2017, and leveraging Nuheara’s latest smart-hearing platform, the IQbuds2 MAX combine hybrid Active Noise Cancellation and unique features for personalizing and enhancing the wearer’s soundscape. The IQbuds2 MAX hearing buds are now available for pre-order and are planned to ship in March 2020 for USD $399.