Here me out. Hearing aid capabilities have always been restricted by the case size of the HA. The smaller the aid the less powerful the aid is. Also the aid size determines the battery size. In plain English - HA needs more real estate. Or more places to locate components, receivers, guts, etc.
I’m now reading smart glasses come with HA which might or might not be a step forward in hearing capability. But wouldn’t it be great if some ‘Einstein’ out there figured how to combine the space inside eyeglass arms/frames with ear worn hearing aids. Think of the possibilities. HA receivers could be located on eyeglass arms, possibly front frames. And why not four or five receivers on each arm side? Since eyeglass frames are outside the body (skull) they might actually pick up sounds better than a human ear canal. Then with receivers or other parts removed from aid casing, there will be more room for other bigger componets. Heck maybe smart glasses can store more battery power for aids, then we presenty have. Be it rechargeable batteries or throw away.
Time for the big HA manufacturers to start thinking outside the box and using glass frames to improve HA performance. Clock is ticking.
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I’d like this more than AR glasses, which is where the tech industry seems to be focused.
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Wouldn’t work for me. First, adding the bulk of battery storage to eyeglass arms would make eyeglasses heavier and a lot more difficult to put on and take off and wear. Second, for those of us with severe ++ hearing, imagine having to have a pair of cShell ear moulds dangling from your glasses.
Receivers for most hearing impaired people only effectively when they are positioned in the ear canal. Having the receivers in the arms of glasses would only work for minor hearing impairments (if at all) and would have huge problems with feedback.
I ride a motorcycle, so I need my HAs separate from my eyeglasses and I need to be cable to slip my eyeglasses on and off while my helmet is on.
Then there’s the inconvenience of having to change your HAs when you replace your glasses or visa versa, not to mention the obvious limitations on frame styles.
Opticians know nothing about HAs and Audiologists know nothing about lenses. How are these sold? These are two custom made products that really have nothing in common.
MTCW
I wear reading glasses and am severely deaf so wear an ultra power hearing aid. Honestly I do not want to have to wear glasses at all times to hear.
But I do want plenty of power and I really dont get why everthing must be worn on my ear and I do think that processing power, microphone and speaker could be separated.
When I see that Star Trek guy with the eye thing I wonder what that would look like for a profoundly deaf person which could have extensive processing power and directionality.
Most of the severe or profound users that I have met just dont care about the size or optics of how an aid looks, they are way past the point where they need to ‘hide’.
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Speaking of Star Trek and hearing devices…
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