Audiotoniq CEO and founder Russell Apfel, above left, and Vice President Harold Mindlin are unveiling today a new hearing aid — Mindlin holds a picture at right — that will let users adjust settings using smartphone applications rather than seeing specialists, Apfel says. Audiotoniq plans to sell the hearing aids online and will provide software that trains people how to listen better.
Tinnitus Ring List!..................
It’s about time. I’ve thought for a long time that the hearing impaired were being ripped off by outrageous prices for hearing aids, especially when you compare with other computer and electronic items. I expect the lobbyists for audiologists will try to outlaw these.
Another Texas company.
Watch Rick Perry try to take credit.
not to pick nits, but which hearing aid is NOT “chip-based”?
Might be nice to try. In my case I won’t get a hearing aid unless I can pay for it *after* I’ve used it, I’m not pouring money down that rat hole.
My problem is that audiologists have told me (and experience bears this out) that amplifying sound won’t do me any good. I can’t discriminate sounds well. IOW, if I can’t understand what someone is saying in a situation, making it louder will not make it any clearer, just louder.
If I am in a crowded restaurant with a group I pretty much smile and nod. Which probably pleases my wife, anyway.
Oh my gosh! That would be wonderful!! My husband has digital hearing aids. His hearing has changed since he got them, but he refuses to go in to have them recalibrated (if that’s the correct term). It would be great if he could adjust them himself.
Bookmark this.
I wear hearing aids. Mine are from 1993. I’ve had them refurbished several times, to avoid paying through the nose for new ones, which would cost around $2-3000 a piece.
Yeah, right. I worked with audiologists (one under the umbrella of an ENT clinic) for all my hearing aids. Coaching....training......zero. The only "customized" things that they did for me was measure the audiogram and cast the ear-molds.
When I switched to digital, the audiologist "did" program them according to the audiogram, but I had so little background information on what the aid could do that I really didn't understand all the possible options, and she wasn't very forthcoming with information to help.
In this day it is ridiculous for hearing aids to cost upwards of $3000 each ($6000 for a pair). And it is ludicrous to have to hook them up by a cable to a PC to have them programmed. Programming should be do-able over a bluetooth link, and the user should be able to do adjustments for themselves. And the available information from the manufacturers SUX.
There’s a lot of potential, and money, involved in correcting hearing loss.
However, there is also a lot of potential innovation that still needs to be done. For example, instead of just selling a hearing aid, why not *rent* a much more complicated device, that over the course of days will do a very thorough hearing analysis in all kinds of normal surroundings?
The unit itself could cost $10,000 or more, and would come with the equivalent of a remote control, so the user could fine tune both hearing aids in any number of situations, say two dozen programmable modes. After use, the device is shipped back to the company, where the data it has collected will be analyzed for that person’s hearing aids.
Users could have a “driving in car” mode, to hear what is being said in the front and back seats. A “noisy restaurant” mode, so they can hear what is being said at their table. A “sporting event” mode for a particular sport they like to attend. Even a “church mode” so they can hear what is being said at a mono-directional distance.
All sorts of possibilities. This is because future hearing aids could be much more complicated, able to strain out extraneous noises, able to directionally and distance focus, even be attuned to particular voices.
Likewise, why limit hearing aids to just two earpieces? If the person wore glasses, while having a microphone in the frame might not be optimal for a full hearing aid, it could provide partial information to the hearing aides to help them “fine tune” sounds. The same with a mike in the lapel, jacket or shirt pocket, or wristwatch.
The further from the aural aids, the more a third or fourth aid could be used to triangulate sounds automatically.
And back to glasses, the person might even have a “heads up” display option, so they could look at one or more persons, and put a “mouse cursor” highlight on them, so the hearing aids would be “directionally interested” in that direction, out of a 360 degree circle around the user. Until either they, or the user, moved beyond a certain distance.
Lots and lots of possibilities, here.
I don’t even know how much hearing loss I actually have! My tinnitus is so loud, and at so many different pitches, it’s hard to take the hearing tests. Whooshing, clicks, beeps and a constant hi pitched white noise whine. Louder than people speak. I need something to address the tinnitus, and I haven’t found anything yet that helps. I don’t want hearing aids blasting in my ears just to make speech, etc., louder than the tinnitus!
Thanks for the ping, Badge!
I adjust mine with a small button on the hearing aid, while it is still in my ear. I fail to see how a smart phone app would be an improvement.
Audiotoniq will sell the devices online for $1,500 to $1,800.
Well, at least it's a price improvement.
I was at a friend’s house recently. 6 of us at the dining room table and Dan pulled up an app on his smartphone that played sounds and we tested who could hear what. I couldn’t hear any of the sounds but the other adults at the table could. My kids in the other room said they could hear them too.
Will they be made in America?
If not, who cares?