I just discovered a LiveJournal site called "Hearing-Aid Hacking" which gives great do-it-yourself advice on using assistive listening technologies with hearing aids. It features tips and new technologies from real hearing-aid users, everything from how to work with the direct-audio-input (DAI) connections on your hearings aids (if they have them), to the latest on new Bluetooth technologies (especially for mobile phone users) and on the new bells and whistles that hearing-aid manufacturers seem to constantly announce. Here is the site's mission statement: "For high end users of hearing aids. We're frustrated that we're behind the technology curve and pay huge dollars/pounds/euros for good hearing aids that are unaware of and incompatible with anything resembling recent advances in consumer audio tech. We're willing to blaze our own path because no one will do it for us until they realize there is money in them thar hills." If you are a new or experienced hearing-aid user, there is probably something there for you.
Posted by David on Dec 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Stone Deaf Pilots Site Rocks With Hearing Assistive Technology Galore
I just discovered a GREAT site on assistive technology for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, Stone Deaf Pilots - The Deaf Tech Blog. It's authored by Kathryn Hill, a San Francisco-based photographer, and it's chock full of the latest and greatest assistive technologies for both profoundly deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers. Check out her posts on finding a deaf-friendly phone (she's looking at either the Sidekick or Blackberry), on video captioning for handheld devices, and on software that reads and writes your voicemail onto your handheld screen. I've got this one on my RSS reader now, plus a link on the sidebar of this page.
Posted by David on Oct 5, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Hatis Assistive Listening Devices Make Hearing Aids Phone- and iPod-Friendly
To listen to an iPod or communicate successfully on the phone, even on my most powerful amplified phone, I need to hear with both ears. I've found the best way to accomplish that trick is with a line of products from Hatis that plug into my iPod and my phones. They have ear hooks that hang behind my ears and transmit directly into my telecoil-equipped hearing aids. Hatis products can plug into your cell phone with a 2.5 mm jack or into your iPod, CD player or other device with a 3.5 mm jack. Their silhouette ear hooks are slim, broad and flat, and their patented technology provides better transmission through the telecoils than any other silhouette product I've tried. These products are a godsend, because without binaural listening assistance in stereo, I can't use the phone, at least not for normal business conversations.
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Posted by David on May 2, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
Starkey Adds 'BluPal' Transmitter To Bluetooth Hearing-Assistance Portfolio
Starkey Laboratories, which last year introduced its ELI Bluetooth wireless hearing-aid accessory for wireless connectivity to cellphones, is nearly ready to ship another companion product -- a 'BluPal' wireless Bluetooth microphone transmitter with a range of up to 30 feet that's no bigger than a butane cigarette lighter. Starkey was showing prototypes at the American Academy of Audiology Audiology Now conference, and it's truly a slick product. It's the first Bluetooth-to-hearing-aid microphone transmitter I've seen.
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Posted by David on Apr 16, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)
Oticon Introduces Kid-Friendly Amigo FM Assistive Listening Devices
Hearing the teacher's voice without the stress and strain of speech-reading can mean the difference between long-term success and failure in school, especially for younger children. When hearing-aid manufacturers target school-aged customers, they do well by doing good. Not only can they provide one of the most important learning aids a child can have, but they can also sign up a customer for life. Oticon has recently increased its historically strong commitment to the pediatric market with the Amigo family of wireless FM assistive listening devices. Consisting of transmitters, receivers and accessories including a choice of microphones and an adaptor for cochlear implants, the Amigo family features the latest advances in wireless hearing-aid communicatio and should make it easier for educators to make kids' lives easier. Oticon has also matched its R&D investment with the commitment of a top-tier team, including the recent reassignment of U.S.-based product evangelist Maureen Doty to focus exclusively on the pediatric care market.
Posted by David on Apr 16, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
Hear Now: Introducing 'Elvas,' The Long-Awaited Convergence Of Hearing Aids And Consumer Electronics
Paul Dybala, Ph.D., the editor of both Audiology Online and Healthy Hearing, has filed a wonderful, comprehensive report on the convergence of hearing aids and the wave of consumer earpieces and headsets being marketed by cellphone makers and consumer electronics companies. In 1999, Dr. Dybala was among the first to predict the mainstreaming of ear-level hearing-assistance technology in the form of "Ear-Level Voice-Activated Systems" (ELVAS). Now he is declaring that "Elvas Lives." In an article entitled "Elvas Sightings - Hearing Aid or Headset?," he has provided the most complete and up-to-date list of new earpieces amplifying environmental sound and/or cellphone signals. Among other things, he asks the reader to view each "mystery" product, then answer the question, "hearing aid or headset?" Surprisingly, many of the hearing aids have more attractive designs than the consumer headsets for people without significant hearing loss. I've written about this issue and a number of these products before, including the Gennum Hearphone, the Starkey Bluetooth ELI, and the futuristic designs at the Albert & Victoria Museum's "HearWear" exhibit in London (picture). But Dr. Dybala's report is the most comprehensive I've sen yet. (He has written a similar feature in the March issue of The Hearing Journal which, as Dr. Dybala observes, increasingly looks like more like Wired Magazine than a specialized medical journal).
Posted by David on Apr 4, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
ClearSounds IL40: An In-Line Telephone Amplifer For All Seasons
Usually hotel telephones are a nightmare for me. They almost never work, even with my telecoil setting turned on and my hearing-aid volume set as high as it will go. (And then, insult is added to injury when the first call I want to make is to complain about the closed-captioning on the TV set not working, but I have to schlepp to the front desk in person to complain instead). I have the same problem with phones I try to use at clients, at friends' houses... anywhere other than home, where I can rely on my trusty amplified desktop phone. But on our recent trip to New York, I tried out a ClearSounds IL40 Portable Telephone Amplifier, and now I believe my hotel phone problems may have disappeared forever. When I plugged it into the standard hotel-room phone, all of a sudden I could hear the voice at the front desk as well as if I were calling from home. In no time I was making dinner reservations, calling the parking attendant, and just for fun, calling for the local weather.
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Posted by David on Nov 20, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Jabra's New Headset Is Hard-Of-Hearing Friendly
Jabra has always set trends for great design and cutting-edge consumer technology with its telephone headsets and earpieces, and now it is aiming its marketing guns directly at hard-of-hearing consumers with its announcement of the new Jabra 650 telecoil-compatible corded headset. Though it's designed for all consumers, not just hearing-aid users, Jabra makes a big point in its news release and promotional materials about its aim to be hard-of-hearing friendly. The headset's circuitry works with a hearing aid's telecoil, enabling the aid to transmit a clean and clear signal amplified exactly the way hard-of-hearing user needs to get it. The product also features a specially designed foam earpiece to accommodate a behind-the-ear hearing aid. In addition to some other ease-of-use features in the product, the Jabra website has a nice compatibility guide to quickly determine if the headset works with your phone. It's no coincidence Jabra is leading other manufacturers in making their products hard-of-hearing friendly. Its corporate parent, GN Store Nord also owns GN ReSound, one of the world's leading hearing-aid designers and manufacturers. It's a great example of the synergy you'd like to see more often between separate subsidiaries of conglomerates, and I'm hoping we can look forward to integration of more of GN ReSound's hearing-aid technology into other new slick consumer electronic products from Jabra.
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Posted by David on Jul 21, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Bluetooth Hearing-Aid Products Debut
Starkey Laboratories announced its Bluetooth Eli (Ear-Level Instrument) last week in a news release on the Advance for Audiologists website. So we are starting to see the long-awaited arrival of multiple Bluetooth-enabled hearing-enhancement products, which answers my question in an earlier post on whether and when all the anticipated Bluetooth products would ever make an appearance. The Starkey news release claims it is the "first" Bluetooth product from a hearing-aid company, which I don't think is true, as the Phonak SmartLink Bluetooth product has been out and available for a while. But it does appear to be the smallest Bluetooth-enabled hearing-enhancement product on the market, another claim made by Starkey which is certainly something to brag about. It's a tiny device that fastens to the DAI (direct audio input) connector on your hearing aid. It's got a microphone receiver and transmitter that communicates wirelessly with your Bluetooth-enabled cellular phone, personal communicator, or other device. MicroTech says it allows for hands-free operation for up to two-and-a-half hours at a time. Like the Phonak Smartlink Bluetooth personal communicator, ELI is in the advance guard of products utillizing new communications standards that will bring the hearing-aid industry into the consumer electronics mainstream.
Posted by David on Jul 12, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)
Neckloops For Telecoil-Equipped Hearing Aids Are Cool
When I got my first neckloop two years ago, I marveled at its simplicity and utility. It's little more than a cord of insulated stereo-speaker wire that I loop around my neck and plug into a microphone or other source. But then, through the miracle of electro-magnetic induction, it transmits pure sound directly into my telecoil-equipped hearing aids. A typical neckloop comes with either a standard 2.5 mm connector (often used with cellphones or with headset ports on desktop phones) or 3.5 mm connector (portable CD players, personal communicators, headphones, etc). Other neckloops are more specialized, such as the one I later purchased for my cellphone that also has a microphone to pick up my voice and an amplifier to make it easier to hear the cellphone's signal. A real benefit of a neckloop is that I get the signal through both hearing aids: because my bilateral hearing loss features different discrete problems in each ear, getting the sound in stereo is a huge help in comprehension. Following is a list of some of the most popular neckloop products for telecoil-equipped hearing aids and sources where you can purchase them. Given their simplicity, they aren't as inexpensive as you might expect, but given their utility, they are a bargain.
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Posted by David on Jun 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
If A-Rod Can Carry A Purse, I Can Too!
Remember that Seinfeld episode when Jerry decides to get rid of his over-stuffed wallet and start using a "European Carry-All"? Everyone calls it a purse, and he insists it's not ("It's European!"), even though it is. A couple of months ago, I finally got tired the tradeoff between stuffing every spare pocket with all my hearing gear (and eventually having to wear a sport coat and overcoat with yet more pockets, even in warm weather) vs. packing it all in my business briefcase that is too big to carry with me everywhere I go. Maybe it was that doctored-up picture of Alex Rodriguez carrying a handbag down the first base line in the American League playoffs that made the rounds here in Boston (Red Sox followers are the most knowledgeable fans in the universe but can also be the meanest as well, at least when the Yankees are in town). Or maybe I'd just gotten over another one of those self-consciousness hurdles that can prevent you from taking advantage of all the help you need. For whatever reason, I decided it was time to make my move.
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Posted by David on May 25, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Bluetooth Bandwagon Builds Momentum, But Where Are The HOH Products?
Every week it seems we hear of another new product for hard-of-hearing (HOH) consumers utilizing the Bluetooth wireless communications standard. In addition to my post last month on Sound ID, I've recently discovered that Starkey Laboratories, Micro-Tech Hearing Instruments, Sonomax Hearing Healthcare, and Gennum Corp. are also getting into the act. And I'm sure there are more. My only comment on all these efforts is, "Sounds great, guys, but when will we actually see (and hear) the products?" I've said before Bluetooth will be the bridge between the glittery world of consumer electronics and the stodgy old hearing-aid industry. I can't wait to see all the cool new wireless earpieces for cellphones and other applications providing custom hearing enhancement for people with and without hearing loss. But every time I go to the web sites of hearing equipment manufacturers talking about Bluetooth plans, I can't find a product that's actually available. A good example is the announcement in this month's Hearing Review of the world's "smallest audio Bluetooth device," a tiny new transmitter/receiver that marries technology from Micro-Tech and Starkey.
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Posted by David on May 18, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
A Comment on Amplified Phone Design
You can tell it's an amplified phone by the size of the buttons. A lot of hearing impaired people are old, and a lot of old people also have trouble with their vision. Therefore, most amplified phones are designed with HUGE buttons with ENORMOUS numbers on them. It's great the manufacturers can kill two birds with one stone. But consumers aren't birds. I don't need the big buttons, thank you. I see the small ones just fine. (I feel a little like the two deaf people in the coffee shop: when the waiter sees them conversing in sign language, he very helpfully brings them menus written in Braille). Like a lot of the marketing decisions hearing-assistance manufacturers make, the design of amplified phones is turning off what should be their most attractive target market: consumers in their 30s, 40s or 50s who will only be ordering more hearing assistance gear as time goes on. I think that's why the manufacturers have had such a difficult time appealing to Baby Boomers, especially those who grew up in the 1960s and vowed to never get old.
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Posted by David on Mar 31, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)
