One of the major hearing aid manufacturers, Phonak, recently launched the Infinio Sphere hearing aid, which includes several new features intended to enhance accessibility for people who are hard of hearing. Personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) have come a long way since the early models developed by Miller Rees Hutchinson in 1898, which were large with weak batteries. As technology has evolved, the audiology landscape has shifted from working with analog amplification to promoting digital amplification, which is “smarter” and more equipped to address the unique needs of each hearing aid user.
Where in the past, hearing aids or PSAPs have been designed to amplify all sound frequencies to a volume appropriate for the user. This, however, is not an ideal way of giving people with hearing loss access to the sound they might be missing; hearing loss often isn’t the same in every frequency for every person so amplifying everything can be uncomfortable. Digital hearing aids have computer chips in them which allow audiologists to program the devices to amplify sounds and voices in the frequencies individual hearing aid users have less access to sound without touching their hearing in the “average range”. The added computer chip is a feature of all digital hearings aids currently on the market and does more than target specific sound frequencies. Many people experiencing tinnitus (persistent ringing in the ears) use digital hearing aids to amplify environmental sounds to reduce the constant ringing. So if most hearing aids available today have the same basic features, what makes the Infinio Sphere stand out?
- Dedicated AI Chip
- Spheric Speech Clarity
- Bluetooth Connectivity
AI Chip: The Infinio Sphere uses a Deep Sound Optimized Neural Integrated Chip by DEEPSONIC™ to remove barriers in diverse social settings. The AI chip was trained using 22 million sound samples to identify and automatically adjust to different sound environments. In doing this, it allows users to participate in various social settings without having to constantly adjust their hearing aids for more clarity. This feature helps to create a more inclusive auditory environment by allowing people with hearing loss to engage with their surroundings in ways that suit their unique hearing experiences.
Spheric Speech Clarity: This feature refers to the metaphorical sphere around the hearing aid user in busy auditory environments. Background noise is something that affects everyone; think of how difficult it is to understand someone in a loud restaurant with music playing and people shouting over each other. These situations are even trickier for people who use hearing aids that don’t work to filter out background noise. In these challenging auditory environments, the Infinio Sphere uses multidirectional microphones to ensure that the only voices and sounds being heard are the ones occurring within the set sphere circumference. Other hearing aids on the market have features to reduce background noise, but Phonak is the only one promising no background noise in such proximity to the user. Both the AI and Spheric Speech features seem to align with the Functional Solutions model of disability which aims to eliminate limitations through technological innovation.
Bluetooth Connectivity: Having Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids helps make technology and media accessible to diverse hearing experiences. Traditional hearing aids have microphones in the body of the aid which sits behind the users’ ear, making earbuds inaccessible. With Bluetooth capabilities, these hearing aids can now stream music and other media directly to your hearing aids without the use of headphones/earbuds. This feature also gives people with hearing loss the opportunity to connect with media in ways that align with their abilities, connecting with the social model of disability as well as the Functional Solutions model because hearing aid users previously had limited access to streaming due to poor design.
On a critical note, it is important to mention that these hearing aids might not be suitable for every person experiencing hearing loss. Many musicians who are hard of hearing have criticized the background noise programming of digital hearing aids because the computer chips are trained to focus on voices and dampen the rest. This means that the music they make and enjoy is even more difficult to hear than before because their hearing aids are actively working to suppress it. Hearing aids are never one-size-fits-all and should never be marketed as such, regardless of how innovative the technology may be.