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by obarthelemy 890 days ago
It doesn't even need to be a startup: hearing aids are techically inferior to mid-range earbuds, yet cost more than 10x more. I'm guessing it's a certification+distribution issue, like for smartphones in the US. I've heard Bose has something in test though ?
1 comments
Amasuriel 890 days ago
It’s not quite the same, many people with hearing loss only lose hearing on part of the spectrum, so it’s not just about making things louder, it’s about making the specific frequencies louder in ratio to the loudness of the noise.
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jeremiahbuckley 890 days ago
I am very ignorant about this, but couldn’t this be solved with a config where you specify “hearing loss at these frequencies at these levels” and then the headphones increase/decrease this frequencies in response? Obviously, there needs to be a standard, and hw that listens to the standard.
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lathiat 890 days ago
It could. Apple AirPods actually support this (using a real "Audiogram") but annoyingly they currently "average" your two ears and don't apply an ear-specific correction. Which for someone like me with perfect hearing on one side and supposedly "Mild" but realistically quite significant hearing loss on the other side is a real pain.

There are already quite a few products in this space: Bose HearPhones Nuheara .. and many more.

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jeremiahbuckley 890 days ago
Awesome to discover this, a necessary but not sufficient step to improving competition and choice.
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skybrian 890 days ago
Frequency response is similar to an EQ, but there are lots of other problems. There is feedback, which is worse at higher amplification, which people with more severe hearing loss need. There is wind noise.
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mgerdts 890 days ago
It’s not only that, the hearing loss may be very different in each ear. I don’t need a hearing aid for my left ear. If I lie with my left ear on a pillow, I will hear almost nothing. My yappy ankle biter dog a 3ft is audible. This means that if I use an OK headset, shift the balance as far right as possible while keeping the left speaker on, then turn my iPhone all the way up, I hear stereo at a comfortable but not loud level. Surely that amplifies some frequencies way higher than they should be amplified.
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abdullahkhalids 890 days ago
which is quite similar to the challenge of active noise cancellation. It's not a technology issue per se. Just adapting current tech to this domain.
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