The latest in hearing health

In an era where technology continuously strives to bridge gaps and enhance lives, HeardThat reached a remarkable milestone this month—users have chosen HeardThat to run one million sessions. 

Singular Hearing launched the specially engineered HeardThat Remote Mic Kit this week, expanding the utility of the HeardThat app. While the app provides exceptional noise-removal capabilities, the Mic Kit supports additional use cases to help users hear conversations and speakers in a variety of different settings.

Singular Hearing, the developers of HeardThat, conducted a study to evaluate if the app actually improves speech understanding and listening effort compared to noisy conditions without the app. 

HeardThat is proudly partnering with Soundprint again this year for its third annual Find Your Quiet Place Challenge 2023 (FYQP). Whether you're a city dweller surrounded by the constant hum of urban life or someone seeking solace in a noisy world, the FYQP Challenge offers a unique opportunity to identify quiet (and noisy) places.

For Singular Hearing CEO and HeardThat creator Brue Sharpe, the excitement was palpable as tech enthusiasts, innovators, and AI aficionados gathered at the prestigious CogX Awards 2023 on September 12 in London. The awards program, a part of the CogX Festival, celebrated excellence in AI, technology, and innovation, honoring the visionaries who are reshaping the world with their groundbreaking ideas.

This week, we launched the HeardThat Professional Program for the audiologist community. Following numerous discussions and demos with audiologists, hearing health professionals have shared that virtually all their patients have issues with noise, and they’re continually looking for new options to solve the problem.

HeardThat introduces a brand new gifting feature! This takes the app's impact to a whole new level. It allows anyone to gift the HeardThat app to their friends and loved ones, providing them with a tool to hear clearly in noisy environments and actively participate in conversations, special occasions, and memory-making moments.

What do cars, phones, digital cameras, and hearing assistance have in common? They all started as imperfect technologies that have since become essential parts of our lives. What else is true about them?

Hearing loss is a complex condition impacting nearly 20% of the global population in one way or another. Some people have difficulty hearing higher-pitched sounds, while others may have difficulty hearing all sounds. Regardless, one of the earliest signs of hearing loss is having difficulty hearing speech in noise.

Hearing aids are a big investment. While average costs vary depending on whether the set is over-the-counter versus prescription and by overall capabilities, wearers can expect to pay anywhere between $1,600 and $4,600. With a price tag in the thousands, hearing aids do help those with hearing loss, but they don’t restore natural hearing. One major gap remains—the ability to hear conversations in loud places.

CES 2023 introduced the new AgeTech track, thanks to a partnership between AARP and CTA, which brought panelists and new technology aimed at helping seniors to the stage.

When you hear the phrase “hearing assistance,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? If you said hearing aids, you’re in the majority. However, Artificial intelligence (AI) is enhancing hearing assistance and improving how most hearing-assistive devices and technologies help users hear better.

Hearing aids are valuable devices for users and improve their ability to hear to a certain extent. However, they don’t fully restore a person’s hearing abilities and there’s one area in particular where they are weak—helping users hear speech in background noise.

Approximately 50% of us will have someone with hearing loss at our holiday gatherings this year. Party hosts can help some by turning down holiday music or seating guests at smaller circular tables, but any background noise can still impact how well those with hearing loss can hear conversations.

Thanks to AI and other integrated technologies, smartphones now come with a whole new line of assistive capabilities for those who have trouble hearing. Expanded accessibility features, Bluetooth-enabled devices, and apps make it easier for those acros a range of hearing loss to communicate with others.

This week, HeardThat launched a new version of the app that enables users to incorporate as much ambient sound as desired without hearing their own voices. To do this, HeardThat has integrated two of its most popular features, Directional mode and adjustable noise removal which now work together harmoniously.

Just three months after the U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration finalized its over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid ruling, we’re starting to see the first sets of OTC devices hit the market. This is a huge deal with hearing loss being so prevalent.

Recently, we conducted product validation interviews to capture the experiences of real users who use hearing aids and have trouble hearing conversations in noisy places. Participants met with an interviewer in a private space that recreated the loud environment of a noisy restaurant using recorded sounds.

Over the last 3 months, HeardThat has been going through ATS Labs, an accelerator for accessibility startups. As we finish this program, we are delighted to invite you to see us in action and pitch live at the ATS Labs Demo Day on October 20, 12 pm to 1:30 pm. Registration for this free virtual event is now open!