Crowded places can be a difficult hearing environment for everyone and especially difficult for those with hearing loss. While hearing aids make it easier to pick up sounds in any environment, standard or older models still have some limitations in crowded places.
The good news is that hearing aid technology is always advancing, and new breakthroughs are making it easier than ever to hear better in crowds.
AI Helps Hearing Aids Identify Speech
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing so much of how the world works, and that includes hearing aids. New hearing aid technology is being developed that can mimic the way your brain works to distinguish sounds.
Our brains are naturally good at being able to separate voices from other background noises. However, when you have hearing loss, your brain is essentially receiving less input, which makes it harder to distinguish between sounds. This makes hearing in busy environments like The Walnut Kitchen quite difficult.
While all hearing aids help you better hear in crowds, AI hearing aids are able to listen for familiar voices, like your spouse’s or partner’s, recognize them and be able to amplify their speech when you’re in a louder environment.
New Technology Can Help Hearing Aids Read Lips
What’s especially exciting is that new hearing aid technology is being developed to help users read lips to understand speech better.
This technology would include a handheld camera that you point at whoever is speaking. The camera would use machine learning AI to read lips and then amplify that speaker’s voice to your hearing aids.
Hearing Loss Treatment Options
While some of this technology is not widely available, modern hearing aid technology can still help you hear better in crowds through various settings and filters that can reduce background noise and focus on sounds coming from specific directions.
Studies have shown that these features are important for hearing aid users. A study published in 2021 looking at hearing aid technology preferences found that “noise acceptance and satisfaction for speech in a large group were significantly improved when using the premium devices.”
If you’re interested in maximizing your ability to hear in any environment, call the experts at Foothills ENT and schedule an appointment to learn about your hearing aid options.