Assisted Listening

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.

Startup Bionica To Market New ‘Personal Communication System’

It’s not every day a new hearing-aid company is launched from the ground up. A group of entrepreneurs in Providence, Rhode Island, yesterday announced they formed Bionica Corp. to develop and market a new “Personal Communication System.” With $250,000 in backing from the Slater Technology Fund, a New England Venture Capital firm, the new company sits in the shadow of Brown University. With broad and deep experience in technology development and industrial design, Bionica’s founders, Ralph Beckman and Kipp Bradford, have impressive start-up credentials. And they have recruited a CEO with world-class hearing-aid experience, Peter T. Hahn, the former President of U.S. Operations for Oticon, the world’s third-largest hearing-aid manufacturer. Their personal communicator, Clio, apparently will be a next-generation hearing aid that is “based upon leading edge technology in microprocessors and sound transmission technology” but which is “carefully designed for user friendliness.” I can’t wait to hear more.

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.

When I listen with just one ear, I often miss too much for the phone to be useful, but when I use both, the deficiencies in each ear seem to balance each other out, and with proper amplification I can communicate well. I used to depend on several different neckloops that would transmit the phone signal through the telecoils in my hearing aids. But increasingly I found I had to drape the neckloop over the back of each ear to get as much volume as I required. This was a cumbersome solution and made me look ridiculous. But the Hatis silhouette-style products provide a direct link to my hearing aids that are relatively unobtrusive and easy enough to take on and off when I use the phone. They are pricey, ranging from $100 to $300, but I’ve found them worth the money as I use them all the time.

The Hatis Freedom series has a plug for a 2.5 mm jack, making it compatible with many mobile phones. It also has a microphone with a lapel clip that I’ve found to work quite well. Everyone I’ve asked says my voice comes across very clearly, without background noise. The Freedom series comes in either monaural or binaural versions, so if if you only need to hear with one ear you don’t have to bother with two ear hooks. There is also a Hatis Lite version with a much slimmer earhooks. I haven’t tried this version but assume it provides a little less volume in return for a slightly easier and less obtrusive earpiece. The Director series is like the Freedom line but also has a boom microphone, for call centers and other situations where even better sound clarity is required. Finally, the Epic series, which also comes in monaural and binaural versions, has a plug that fits a 3.5 mm jack commonly used in CD players, computers, iPods and other devices. It’s got a nice long cord, and for hearing-aid users with telecoils, the sound quality is as good as you’re going to get because it comes directly through the aids without going through your hearing aids’ microphones. The Director series doesn’t have a microphone, because it’s not necessary when you’re only listening. However, my Clearsounds amplified phone has a 3.5 mm jack, so I use the Hatis Director to get my calls amplified in stereo while using the handset to speak. It’s a great solution all the way around.

Oticon Integrates Wireless Bluetooth Receiver In New Epoq Hearing Aids

Oticon’s latest new technology is whiz bang, integrating a Bluetooth receiver inside its new Epoq family of hearing aids. Epoq also provides wireless binaural communication between right and left hearing aids to make stereophonic sound more natural. But to me the most exciting innovation is the integrated Bluetooth, which enables mobile phone reception directly by the hearing aids. I get that benefit currently with a pair of Hatis silhouettes which plug directly into my cell phone and hang behind my ears next to my behind-the-ear hearing aids. They work well but require that I be tethered to the phone in addition to taking them on and off and constantly making sure the silhouettes are set properly next to the telecoils in my hearing aids. Getting phone reception directly into the aids through a wireless Bluetooth connection is the holy graille. But the nifty new solution isn’t without its drawbacks.

First, you need another device – a “Streamer” – to use the Bluetooth receiver. The Streamer synchs with your Bluetooth-enabled phone and transmits to the integrated circuitry in the hearing aids. That means another device to carry around and keep track of, in addition to the set-up and operational complexity which can be a hurdle for some users. The extra Streamer device may be necessary because it solves at least one problem: Bluetooth is a power hog and would lay waste to normal hearing-aid batteries without an external power source. But it is still a step away from mobile phone nirvana.

Second, while the binaural wireless coordination between the DSP chips in each hearing aid certainly is a technological feat, I haven’t heard how well the technology actually improves the hearing experience of the person wearing them. Siemens introduced its wireless binaural technology more than a year ago, but it hardly created a ripple of excitement in the hearing loss community. I would like to be proven wrong, but I’m wondering if this technology isn’t something that looks great to engineers because it’s so sophisticated but that doesn’t deliver as much real-world benefit as originally intended. Maybe with two vendors providing similar applications there will be more general usage and we will see more positive feedback in the coming year.

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 communication 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.

Introducing 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).

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.

Telecoils in hearing aids are a godsend to people frustrated trying to communicate with standard telephones and telephone headsets. That’s because they pluck the pure signal directly from the phone line, process it, and transmit it through the hearing-aid speaker at exactly the amplification the user needs. Bypassing the telephone’s speaker entirely eliminates re-amplification that distorts the signal, enabling the listener to hear clearly. Often the telecoils make the difference between being able to use the phone at all, or not. Unfortunately, the telecommunications industry has been slow to make all its products compatible with hearing-aid telecoils, in spite of the urgent prompting by advocacy groups and regulatory agencies like the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. (See my recent post about the U.S. cellular phone industry scrambling to meet deadlines to make their handsets hearing-aid compatible.) So when a leading manufacturer of high-tech earpieces and headsets goes out of its way to make some of its products very friendly hard-of-hearing consumers, it’s something to cheer about.

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.

The hottest news in the neckloop market right now is the new Clearsounds CLA7 Amplified Powered Neckloop from Hitec Assistive Communication Products. Available this August, it has a standard 2.5 mm jack that can plug into a cellphone, cordless home phone or other device with a built-in 2.5 mm jack connector; it has a built-in microphone enabling hands-free operation of the phone; it has up to 30 db gain of amplification with external amplification control; and it is powered by two standard AAA alkaline batteries. It is available directly from the Hitec ecommerce site, which I’ve used in the past for my two Clearsounds amplified desktop phones. Hitec previously mainly sold other vendors’ products, but in the past several years it has started designing, building and selling its own line of assistive listening devices. The CLA7 isn’t cheap at $119.95, but it’s impressive Hitec has rated the db gain. On hearing-loss chat boards, poor amplification with neckloops is a frequent complaint, but if the Clearsounds product delivers the full 30 db gain as advertised, the premium price may be more than worth it. This is a vendor I trust as they’ve provided excellent support in the past when I’ve had questions or needed technical help with products I’ve bought from them.

Hitec has another, slightly less expensive product, called the Hands-Free Neckloop Amplifier. I think Hitec might be planning on replacing it with the new Clearsounds CLA7, but for the time being it’s a proven product that has much of the same functionality as the new Clearsound product. The major difference seems to be that it uses standard hearing-aid batteries rather than AAA batteries, and the price is $99.95. I’m betting the amplification isn’t as great either.

Motorola sells a wonderful neckloop product (pictured at right) that’s compatible with any cellular phone with a 2.5 mm jack. It’s got a microphone for hands-free operation and an amplifier that has always provided enough gain for me to hear conversations. It’s also got a rechargeable battery that seems to last forever. A great product available directly from Motorola. (I just wish I could find the order form and price quote for it on their online e-commerce site!)

NOTE: many of the online sites often make it maddeningly difficult to find their neckloop products (and others). Even the Hitec site, which I feel is among the best online suppliers of assistive products, makes the search elusive. When you hit their “assistive listening” products button, their neckloops fail to appear. When you hit the “mobile communication” button, you get a drop-down menu that includes neckloops, but the list it takes you to doesn’t feature the new Clearsounds CLA7 product featured elsewhere on the site. When you put “neck loops” or “neckloops” into the site’s “find-product” search engine, you get a message saying, “This category does not contain products.” (That one nearly stopped me from finding the product at all). Only when you enter the singular “neck loop” or “neckloop” do you get to the page on the Hitec site with all the neckloop products. Then on the Motorola site, I can find a nice picture of the hands-free cellphone neckloop product I bought several years ago, but when I hit the “purchase this item online” button, it takes me to an online store where 20 minutes of searching turned up hide nor hair of the product. (I still included it in my list because it’s served me well, but I don’t feel like chasing down the information from Motorola over the phone, even with my neckloop, so I can’t quote a price!) I’m hoping these and other hearing loss e-commerce sites will fix such housekeeping problems, because they are needlessly creating disgruntled consumers and losing sales.

Williams Sound is the grand-daddy of neckloops and many other assistive listening products. The company’s website and catalogue feature an array of projects ranging from loop systems for rooms, amplified telephones, the venerable “PocketTalker” personal communicator, a variety of accessories, and more. Williams sells three different entry-level neckloop products, all with the same simple design featuring a 3.5 mm jack. One is a 45-inch-long model for adults like me who move around a lot and don’t like being tethered to their desktop phones by too short a leash, or who like the extra cord length to set their personal communicator microphones right in the middle of the conference table when they’re at a meeting. The second is an 18-inch-long model for adults who keep their phones or mikes close at hand and don’t want to have to deal with a lot of extra wire. The third is a 13-inch version for kids. Each is available on the Hitec site for $49. Williams sells the products through resellers, including Harris Communications, Phone Merchants, and Hitec, to name just a few of the online e-commerce sites featuring hearing assistance products. In addition to the Hitec site, I’ve had very good luck with Harris, a family-run operation that offers very good service and support in addition to a broad product line (and often, special offers for members of organizations such as Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, SHHH).

Nokia offers its accessability loopset (pictured at the right) for the popular 5100 and 6100 Series and many other lines of its cellular phones. It’s got a two-prong plug that appears to be proprietary to the connectors in those phones. I haven’t tried it but imagine that if it’s designed specifically for those products it does the job. It’s priced at $64.95 on the Nokia site.

Finally, Sennheiser sells two neckloops (but you’ll have to search the company’s site under “neck loop” — two words — NOT “neckloop” — one word — don’t ask me why) for $59 each. They are designed mainly for its broad line of DirectEar infrared TV listening systems, personal communicators and other assistive listening devices. One has a 2.5 mm jack and the other has a 3.5 mm jack, and both are also available on the Hitec site.
FINAL NOTE: When buying popular and widely distributed items, like the Williams Sound products that have been on the market for a while, it pays to shop around. In my latest search the Williams neckloops ranged in price from a high of $79.95 on the Phone Merchants site to a low of $49 on the Hitec site.

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