Wherever I looked, I could hear. It was really like some kind of weird eavesdropping super power—the kind you always expect hearing aids to give you (spoiler: they never do).
You tested them? Or that Andrew guy?
Regardless, wow.
Do they have to be those clunky old timey frames though? Although with the kids these days going all retro…
So do they connect via bluetooth? Bone conduction? Their own ear buds?
We both tested them. I just didn’t get a cool photo of myself to share, so asked Andy if I could use his.
Can’t talk tech yet unfortunately. All under wraps. I can say there’s nothing in your ear (and no bone conduction), but also targeting hearing loss range.
Since Luxottica owns Lenscrafters, and most other optical entities, I can en"VISION"a future where we get our Auditory & visual needs in one place in under 1 hr!
Also, 30% off for members!
I remember my grandmother in the early 70s wearing hearing aid glasses. Nowadays this is a surprise that Essilor is moving into this field. I used to work for Essilor for 15 years in the optical thin films Rx anti-reflective coatings dept.
The “other guy” (sorry mate) has more than a otc-range hearing loss I think, and comprehension across a table at a meal improved markedly. Not sure I’d enjoy wearing something with that degree of directionality, but I also don’t enjoy not understanding anybody when there’s more than about three people in a room. There’s this and Audiotelligence (if they ever find their partner). Lots of interesting tech around the corner hopefully.
Where are all of the “I’ll believe it when I see it” comments?
First off, here’s a company large enough and serious enough to fly a bunch of influencers to Milan a year ahead of a possible launch. It seems to have worked. Abram and Matthew Allsop are excited.
Matthew Allsop thinks that there might be speakers in the arms of the glasses that ‘funnel’ the sound to the ears. If true, that suggests a question. As you raise the power to accommodate greater hearing loss, can you funnel the sound without it leaking significantly beyond the wearer’s ears? So, is there a hard physical limit that restricts the device to addressing moderate or less hearing loss? It’s hard to see how it’s going to revolutionise hearing health care then. Maybe a low-latency wireless connection from the glasses to hearing aids might work.
Full disclosure: I love this kind of stuff too much. I’m still waiting on Audiotelligence to find their damn partner and build their Roger-in-a-hearing-aid-charger device.
I don’t like the insinuation that you can buy my excitement. You can’t. This is an exciting time for the industry… things have been a bit stagnant for a while, especially with being a flop so far… Really, what big innovations have we seen since the was invented? I’ve been talking up the hearing aid glasses category for years2, so it shouldn’t be that surprising that I’m pumped to see a massive new company investing in R&D in this category …
As you raise the power to accommodate greater hearing loss, can you funnel the sound without it leaking significantly beyond the wearer’s ears? So, is there a hard physical limit that restricts the device to addressing moderate or less hearing loss? It’s hard to see how it’s going to revolutionise hearing health care then.
As stated in the article, this is an OTC solution… I state clearly that the glasses won’t help more severe hearing loss, but why I think it’s a big deal anyway: “While EssilorLuxottica’s hearing aid glasses won’t treat the most severe cases of hearing loss, they offer to introduce over a billion people to the benefits of hearing amplification. And thankfully, the vast majority of people who experience the benefits of amplification never want to go back to a world of silence, strain, and fatigue.”
It “worked” in that it got your time and attention. You could then have come back and said it was a rubbish idea. You didn’t. You were excited about it, and that piqued my interest. So no insinuation intended. Sorry you took it that way.
I was trying to work out whether the mild-moderate target market was a limitation of the technology or a consquence of regulation. I’m still not totally sure. I’m out of range of that target market, but I still think it’s an exciting development. My experience with the Apple Airpod Pro 2 leads me to think that cleaning up the signal compensates somewhat for lack of amplification. I’ll follow it with interest.
Hey sorry, had a rough day and probably more defensive than I should have been! I can’t speak to the EL solution specifically, but in general speakers in glasses arms won’t be capable of meeting the needs of those with worse than mild to moderate loss. Maybe that will change one day, but with current tech, I don’t see it happening.
Aids in glasses linked to a semi-permanent receiver installed in the ear canal, might work for severe loss. I think I remember there is one that is installed by at the ear drum.
I think I remember there is one that is installed by ENT at the ear drum.
Wasn’t that the Lyric? I can’t believe that one audi I saw (just a couple times) recommended that brand for ME - yeah, full on snake’s belly . Not only do I doubt that aid would give me sufficient power, but I was there seeing an in the same clinic, same day, to clear up otitis. Just the thought of some little piece of electronics jammed down in the canal wouldn’t trigger inflammation sent me running outta there!
Hmmm. I have to admit that with CINDERBLOCK ears, the nifty glasses would probably not work for me. Curious that even for those without hearing issues there is occasional FEEDBACK when wearing them. That is big negative. I would hope that ambient noise would drown that out, otherwise the wearer is going to be squeaking through the day drawing attention to themselves.
I had also zeroed in on the other negative pointed out in the article: that super directionality can actually be a problem! What if you’re walking next to a group of people and your aids are focused to the front? Or what if you’re hiking with a group all strung out in front and behind? It seems that the optimal place to use these directional glasses would be in places where there is a clear need to POINT them in a specific direction and hear JUST THAT.
Ack. I totally agree that speech in loud places is 1.) THE HOLY GRAIL and 2.) a key driver for even those with mild-to-moderate hearing issues. Devices like the Roger or other makers’ “table-top” or “necklace-worn” mics are not optimal. They can be lost, left behind, or not cover everyone present at a table.
For me, I want to comprehend SPEECH better in loud noise, but not necessarily have bead-point directionality. It would impede my movement, cuz if I turn my head at all, the aids would ZOOM IN on that direction.
I think the technology is moving in the right direction, and I applaud the market for those who want an affordable (if even occasional!) “fix” for improving their hearing. I’m still waiting for the magic bullet: aids that somehow separate out the human voice frequency band (which the wearer could maybe even fine-tune to their preference) without losing all the ambience and turn the aids into “spy-ears”.
My optometrist has provided me with at least 4 pairs of glasses in the last 12 or so years.
Pair 3 years ago had pretty significant distortion. Going down stairs the edge of the stair was an arch. I held on to the railing hard.
fitting the glasses the person had rested the temple of the glasses on my hearing aids; I didn’t know that or I would have corrected her. I learned about that 4 years later.
I’m excited that we are closer and will consider this change myself.
I catch your enthusiasm and I’m grateful you showed it.
@AbramBaileyAuD you run this site with great integrity Thank you
Auckland, New Zealand
SoCal
Wales, UK
