Not going much to cinemas but often watching Netflix- both dubbed and with closed captions (usually in the same language). There are very interesting cultural differences here. Streams in English tend to provide verbatim text (identical to what is spoken), whereas ccs in French are provided in a radically different version to what is said, which is awfully confusing. I guess the idea is that if a viewer did not understand a spoken word, it is helpful to text an alternative- also helping those with a limited vocabulary. Adding another irritating layer of confusion on the typically sloppy translation of the original.
This is what worries me about the advance of Auracast, most of info right now only comes from the same people that sells the system, therefore, for a bureucrat looking for inclusión is hardly enough information because it will obviously be biased.
Where I live (Wisconsin, USA), there is little to no public funding for assistive listening systems, so this is not really an issue. There is a requirement for theaters and other venues to provide assistive listening systems. However, most venues meet this requirement by providing proprietary infrared systems because they are much cheaper than a loop system.
Talking with occupational professionals, their main concerns so far about auracast is where most of the hard of hearing people is, and if we think about age, most old people try to avoid thing with too many steps…
Consider this set of headphones: Avantree Aria Aura – Auracast Headphones
According to the information at the link, a user switches between available audio streams by pressing and holding a button for 3 to 5 seconds. It should be possible for hearing aids to implement something similar.
What i was thinking for the near future is Telecoil for short interactions, like a bank, or any window service, and auracast for other longer interactions, with assisting people involved.
I think that can handle this by automatically streaming the strongest broadcast and allowing switching broadcasts by pressing a button (if it’s not the correct broadcast). There are other methods available if encryption is desired (such as at a bank), which Telecoil does not provide.
I agree with Auracast working fine in solitaire, but no artifacts reported so far? it’s kind of strange to me, it will have limitations, and it will have artifacts, probably nothing to worry too much about. Also, i’m looking for word discrimination tests if possible, many people will say that it feels good when talking about surround sound and intensity of the sound, but it is really working how it should be? it is really getting all the neccesary frequencies? too much selling like it is perfect, i don’t buy it yet.
I have been using an Auracast broadcaster and headphones for nearly a year and have noticed no artifacts. The sound quality is about as good as any other set of headphones I have used - wireless or wired. I can understand the audio better than if I was using my hearing aids to listen to speakers. I agree that this is not a scientific test, but the sound quality is certainly good enough. Note that I am musically trained and a software engineer, so I think I am qualified to provide an opinion on this.
For a venue such as a cinema or a theatre, they really need a professional grade system that offers compatibility with . Those users will need to borrow a receiver unit and personal loopset.
It’s still massively cheaper over a Telecoil installation and no carpets to lift up, but won’t be at the $50 range.
I write about at aurahear.com2 - over the past year I have visited installations all over the world, including railway stations, airports, theatres and places of worship.
I am an independent journalist who has launched the site because this tech has transformed my life and I want it to help others.
This is a rare technology that has been years in the making so it is coming to the market reasonably fully formed: it works better than people expect because the can be a miserable experience for many.
I’ve lost count of the number of places I’ve visited where they forgot to switch it on, it wasn’t working, it had background interference, it was too quiet, it hadn’t been calibrated, and so on. Once, instead of the church sermon I’d expected I listened to the cricket commentary!
There are other limitations to the Telecoil. People have to sit within the loop to pick it up, carpets or walls altered to accommodate it, specialist equipment needed for sound engineers to test it, and training needs to be given.
The bottom line is it’s a 90-year-old technology that, while useful, is analogue in a digital world.
Auracast is much more versatile. It can be used indoors and outdoors, it can bring asssitive listening to new places including walking tours, airport gates, train platform announcements, portable sound desks, book groups, pop-up events, sports stadiums, TVs, bars, gyms…
The user can control what they hear, not just in terms of the volume but the equaliser as well. It can blend in to the surroundings so conversations can carry on - it’s not one or the other - and they are not longer limited to buying the hearing aid manufacturer’s accessories. It’s a massive step forward.
So, venues that have Telecoils should maintain them and ensure they work as intended. But venues installing a new assistive listening system should go straight to Auracast and ensure it has receivers people can borrow.
-Forgot to switch it on - user error. One can also forget to turn on an system.
-Wasn’t working - user error. An auracast system can also not work.
-Too quiet/not calibrated - The amp output can be adjusted over time (what you want to call calibrated) to find a comfortable level that users find satisfactory. And volume can be adjusted in the aids. Amp output level in an auracast system would also need adjusting/calibrated.
-Sit within loop - auracast users have to sit within range.
-Accommodate the wire - it’s a wire. One does not need to do massive renovations to string a wire around an area.
-Special equipment - if you insist on that then the same thing would be needed for an auracast system. And the special equipment already exists in the ’s.
-Training - the same training would be needed to operate an auracast installation.
-Old technology - we still use the wheel and have tamed fire. Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s not useful.
-Equalization is already being done in the HA’s.
-The telecoil input can be balanced with the ambient sound environment to be able to hear the conversations around you in addition to the loop output.
-What accessories are needed for the telecoil? It’s passive. It needs an amped loop of wire much like a speaker. The same as an auracast system. Audio input to audio output to the loop. Audio input to audio output to the auracast radio.
Don’t get me wrong, I think auracast is a great technology leap. But please keep your slamming of loop/telecoil to the facts.
If some rando joe shmo (me) can make my own loop and it works just fine with my HA’s then it ain’t rocket science.
-Forgot to switch it on - user error. One can also forget to turn on an auracast system.
-Wasn’t working - user error. An auracast system can also not work.
-Too quiet/not calibrated - The amp output can be adjusted over time (what you want to call calibrated) to find a comfortable level that telecoil users find satisfactory. And volume can be adjusted in the aids. Amp output level in an auracast system would also need adjusting/calibrated.
-Sit within loop - auracast users have to sit within range.
-Accommodate the wire - it’s a
All of the examples I’ve given are direct experiences. One venue I know installed the loop in the wall: it broke down eight years ago and they haven’t fixed it ‘because no one said it wasn’t working’. The fix could have been expensive as it meant drilling into the walls (personally, I don’t quite understand why this is used as an installation method, but there you go).
One of the big differences between the two technologies is the way in which it is set up. uses transmitter boxes that look like WiFi routers, and can be set up in a venue in just 45 minutes. The transmission is software-controlled and can easily be checked.
Some other benfits include the range. With a loop, especially in venues with moveable seating, people generally have to sit within a dedicated area, usually at the front. Auracast removes that stigma as the whole auditorium will receive the signal. Some transmitters are exceeding the 100m range, especially outdoors and I’m hoping that my football club will let me try a HomeSpot in its AV system to see what its range is like.
You are right that training is needed for both technologies, but two things: Auracast will become part of everyday life in the same way that WiFi does, so people will have more familiarity with the technology. And it easy for front-of-house staff to quickly test a system - with their own devices should they prefer - to ensure it is working as it should. The requires a little more determination.
With both technologies, there is a lack of user knowledge and confidence. Some hearing aids don’t ship with a Telecoil at all. My Opns didn’t and that was long before Auracast. At the same time, some hearing aids do and users were not informed at the time. At least with Auracast we have a new tech that people do talk about, and a tech that is designed beyond the world of hearing aids and Cochlears.
Finally, I’m delighted that you have been able to build your own loop. You might think you are just ‘some rando joe shmo’, but it genuinely takes confidence in electronics to be able to pull it off and not everyone will be willing or comfortable enough to take on that challenge. Given some of the users I’ve spoken to over this past year, you are in the minority of people who can do this. I take my hat off to you.
Broke down 8 years ago: How would they have known the timeline? If no one said it wasn’t working then one might wonder about signage and awareness of its existence. It’s also not known WHAT broke down.
Ignorance of the presence or lack of a is on the user. If they thought it was an important feature to have then they would have bought aids with the feature or asked their fitter to turn on the feature upon learning that there was such a thing (obviously if the coil is present). I’m not an Apple guy. My first aids in 2017 only had telecoil, not mfi or of course not bluetooth. I put together a loop for my workspace desk office job to listen to my own music. I put together a loop in an unfinished basement “family” room for the tv. From this place I learned that Phonak was implementing bluetooth. I waited a bit for it to settle down and then finally pulled the trigger on the Paradise version from Costco (KS10’s). That and the TV Connector and I’m pretty happy with what I have. As with as well, very few places have a loop so it is indeed almost pointless to have a coil. As more and more sites decide to implement an auracast system that will drive uptake of including it in aids.
Putting a loop together is as easy as connecting a speaker to an amp output. One end (doesn’t matter) of the wire into the (usually) black terminal and run the wire around the area to make the loop and then the other end into the (usually) red terminal. Then input whatever audio you want to amplify and off it goes into the ether and magically gets picked up by the telecoil. Are there massive majorities of people that can’t attach their own speakers to whatever system they have? I grant that it takes a little more effort to convert line-out to speaker-out.
Again, I think auracast is a great advancement of technology. I will definitely be looking for it for my next aids. I just don’t like to see the loop/coil technology being disparaged. Especially by people with a sales axe to grind.
Where I live I don’t think government bureaucrats are interested at all. If they were, there would be more than just the one looped public building in my city. There are no mandates at all as far as I know and no government contribution to assistive hearing infrastructure. Sure, I get this doesn’t apply all over the world.
Thanks for your response. Most bureaucrats are only interested if this means votes for them honestly, but the point is that normally for any government to apply any of this kind of technologies into public spaces you will need to write laws about, to convince any serious State you will probably need a lot of evidence that this works.
I kind of agree with that. I do note however that on the latest Samsung UI, it’s one swipe down and one button press to get to the list of broadcasts.
Eventually all this barriers will not be a problem, but there is this user barrier around older generations with technology, and most people not really willing to learn how to use phones. So, it’s still complex.
I believe it covers the full range of human hearing.
No hearing aid or hearing assistive technology covers full range of human hearing. Let’s say for example a frequency, 2000 Hz, Kind of important frequency to distinguish words, will it reproduce the 2001 Hz Frequency? probably not, this will be a waste of energy most of the times, so we create compressión of frequencies with hearing systems. Well it’s far more complex, and it’s still kind of controversial in the world of hearing, but probably so far is not using some frequencies, i mean, we have to keep the “LOW ENERGY” idea.
uses the codec- the same codec that’s used by unicast . LE Audio is in thousands of hearing aids and consumer audio devices and has been for five years. That’s a lot of testing. Before its release LE Audio/Auracast was in development and testing for eight years. It didn’t just spring up overnight. My interest in this goes back five years. I’ve never seen anyone complain about audio quality here, on Facebook, Reddit, or LinkedIn
And if not Auracast, then what? In my area and many places around the world looped venues just don’t exist.
My country is sometimes described as a “nanny state” and even here no level of government is interested in assistive listening. It’s totally up to the venues. Bottom line is venues are much more likely to embrace assistive technology that’s cheaper to install and maintain, and has potential appeal to a wider demographic than the hard of hearing.
Theatre, especially live, may resist as they will not be able to easily control folks outside the theatre tuning in, recording, etc. Even a rotating PIN may not an insufficient barrier.
Ignorance of the presence or lack of a telecoil is on the user.
Not buying this one. If no one tells a new user about , how is it their fault that they don’t know about it? I did not know about telecoil when I bought my first HAs and it was not offered by the . Later I stumbled across this site and became more educated. My second pair of HAs had telecoil because I requested it (not that it is all that useful given the few venues in my area that are looped).
I didn’t know such a thing existed either when I first got into hearing aids. That makes me ignorant of it.
Indeed, I have experienced all of two places in my travels that had a loop. One the person didn’t use the mic and the other worked quite well.
My first aids had it. Then with my second aids I use bluetooth and the TV Connector. And they have a coil as well.
My Resound have a channel for , I have 4 channels, one can be programmed for T-coil. So, what I would do would be to click the select button on the actual aid until I am in the T-coil channel and I would be connected. Alternatively, you can use the app and swipe to the appropriate channel.
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