Have you been filled in about the latest forms of hearing aid technology? Learn more about new innovations from the 2016 International CES in this week’s latest Audicus blog!
International CES Hearing Aid Technology
The International Consumer Electronics Show, or International CES, is an annual event held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Owned by the Consumer Technology Association, the event has over 150,000 participants including technology developers and manufacturers.
Over 3,600 companies from 150 countries around the globe come to participate, offering the best technology this world has to offer! Last year during International CES 2015, developers unfolded wearables such as the Apple Watch and Martian-powered Guest watches.
International CES 2016 also released many forms of hearables and wearables. Wearables are forms of smart technology that can be worn like jewelry or an article of clothing.
These relatively new products are increasing in popularity as more and more companies commit to manufacturing them.
Hearables, on the other hand, are pieces of technology that function by being placed on or in the user’s ear. This application can be particularly useful as ears can process information faster than the eyes can.
It takes only a thousandth of a second for someone to process auditory data, whereas it may take someone one-fiftieth of a second to process visual data. Hearables normally have the advantage of being less bulky than wearables and are less likely to be dropped. In many cases, hearables contour to the ear in such a way that they appear to be invisible.
Among the several new developments revealed at the International CES this year, ZPower and Samsung released new innovations for the hearing aid technology consumer market.
Hearing Aid Rechargeable Systems and Wearables
The 2016 International CES event, held from January 6 to January 9, presented numerous innovations in hearing aid technology. ZPower was named a CES 2016 Innovation Awards Honoree for the ZPower Rechargeable System for Hearing Aids.
Although many smartphones and computers utilize lithium-ion batteries, small batteries are not able to perform efficiently with a lithium-ion composition. ZPower’s rechargeable battery, made from silver-zinc rather than lithium or the less-durable nickel-metal hydride of past batteries, is capable of delivering 24 hours’ worth of battery power after charging.
Batteries can be charged overnight and don’t have to be removed during charging. An additional feature of these rechargeable batteries is their compatibility with various types of hearing aids.
During the 2016 International CES Samsung released TipTalk, wearable in the form of a smart watchband. Created from the Innomdle Lab, this highly developed wearable functions by using a small microphone and bone conduction to relay sound.
Users can press their fingers to their ears and actually hear incoming phone calls!
As the International Consumer Electronics Show continues for another year, consumers will have even more options as thousands of innovators from several countries work together to maximize the efficiency of hearing aid technology.
Stay tuned until the next CES show in 2017!