Smart earbuds-those cool new devices individuals are using for sound cancellation, workout monitoring, calls, and more-are threatening the hearing-help market, according for some analysts. Essentially, the technology behind the products is so advanced, analysts say, that consumers may soon have trouble distinguishing between a custom hearing aid recommended by an audiologist and earbuds they can pick up on Amazon. On the technical level, smart earbuds “are converging with hearing helps,” said Zlata Jelisejeva, research analyst at Futuresource Consulting.
Sumant Ugalmugale, research business lead at Global Market Insights, agreed: “Technologically advanced hearables based on digital signal processing (DSP) provide a plethora of advantages over traditional hearing helps. These new products are functionally flexible and officially better than traditional counterparts. 499 earbuds that enable a listener to tune out background noise in a crowded restaurant while amplifying the conversation of close by dinner companions.
Bose spokesperson Eunice Youmans stressed that the company will not see Hearphones as a hearing aid but instead as a personal sound amplification device (PSAP). “Bose customers have been writing to us for many years requesting that we apply our industry-leading audio- and noise-canceling technologies in something that will help people listen to better,” Youmans said. Meanwhile, cross-over products get a boost from the U also.S.
Congress and the FDA. In December 2016, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Charles Grassley introduced a bill that could allow hearing aids to be sold over-the-counter to consumers who self-diagnose their condition. Also in the same month, the FDA issued new guidance that …