Hearing: "Better Gadgets to Help". Part 1.
Promising new developments — here now; or on the horizon.
Many older adults have hearing that is not what it used to be.
Over the last few years, there have been some important changes in the landscape of available solutions.
Hearing: What’s New?
This is a roundup of hearing-related developments that might be “new” to many of our readers. Some are very new, while others have been around for a few years.
While hearing aids and cochlear implants are the first things people think about when you talk about “help with hearing”, there are some other advances that we want to highlight as well, for those who don’t want, or don’t need, hearing aids.
In Part 1 of this research we focus on tools other than hearing aids. In Part 2, we explore new developments with hearing aids and cochlear implants.
For Whom?
The focus here is on gadgets that can help if your hearing is “not what it used to be”.
This includes people who have serious hearing issues, and really need a hearing aid or cochlear implant.
But it also includes those who just have a bit more difficulty than before in hearing what their dinner companions are saying in a noisy restaurant, or those whose spouse seems to need the TV ever louder.
Situations We Think About
In this series we focus on tools that could help in situations like these:
Hearing better in noisy environments like restaurants;
Watching TV with a partner who hears less well than you;
Walking, jogging, or gardening outdoors;
Board meeting or family dinner with overlapping speakers;
Phone or video calls on‑the‑go;
Lectures, airports, theaters (future‑ready).
In this Post we Cover:
Below, we dive into these areas.
When you don’t need a hearing aid yet, BUT …
Hearing Tests (at home);
Advances in Hearables & Other Amplification Gadgets;
Live Captioning Everywhere;
Glasses that Help You Hear; and
Turning Sound into Vibration
1. When You Don’t Need a Hearing Aid Yet, but …
I am sure you know someone like this.
They think their hearing is still “OK”. But they notice that the world has slowly become less conducive to hearing clearly.
They might say things like:
Restaurants are so Noisy. I can’t hear my dinner companion.
Movie Soundtracks are so Unintelligible (loud background).
Young people mumble.
The TV volume needs to be turned up.
In reality, what this all probably means is that the person no longer has the hearing of a 20 year old. But maybe it is not yet bad enough that they need a hearing aid? Or maybe they don’t want to visit an audiologist and thereby admit they are getting “older”, or “less youthful”?
Gadgets that help with this life situation are a very important product category.
There are Lots of People in this Situation
Our Longevity Explorer AI assistant tells us (Ref 1):
Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults 70+ have measurable hearing loss, yet only ~29 % use hearing aids.
Behavioural studies show the biggest barrier is perceived need rather than cost.
Disclaimers:
This post is NOT medical advice. If you have questions, contact your primary care physician for advice or visit a trained audiologist.
None of the parties responsible for this post (Longevity Explorers LLC, Tech-enhanced Life, the individuals who wrote it) have financial relationships with any of the mentioned vendors. None of the links in this post are affiliate links.
We are trying out the latest AI research assistant (ChatGPT o3), and it has helped with some of the research in this post, although the final version was written by humans.
2. Hearing Tests at Home. For Your Eyes Only.
For the people who don’t think they need help with hearing — or who are wondering — an interesting recent development is the availability of hearing screening tests that you can administer yourself at home, without the need to interact with the healthcare system.
We think these are best thought of as a first step screening tool. If they suggest you have a significant issue, then a trip to an audiologist for a proper evaluation would be indicated. But if they show mild hearing issues only, some of the products below might be very helpful.
Here are some of the notable products.
The Mimi Hearing Test has been used by some of our Longevity Explorers, who found it helpful (Ref 2).
Apple now has a Hearing test built into the Accessibility portion of the Apple iOS, so if you have an iPhone (iOS17.4+) you already have this. But it also needs AirPods Pro 2 to work (Ref 2).
There are other online tests available but we have not yet tried them out. Many of the vendors of hearing aids also offer some type of online hearing screening test. Stay tuned. Or feel free to use the comments to share what you used.
If you want to dig deeper into any of the topics in this post — or if you would like to share your learnings — please let us know (use the comments or reply to this email).
3. Hearables & Other Amplification Gadgets
Hearables are products that look like simple EarBuds, but may contain quite sophisticated audio processing capabilities, that can in some cases make them function as actual hearing aids — or at the least block out surrounding noise.
Hearables = Hearing Assistance in the form of Consumer Electronics.
The key point is that they look like a piece of trendy consumer electronics, thus avoiding the potential stigma some people think comes with hearing aids. They are also much cheaper.
For a better understanding of this entire category of product, see a previous article on Tech-enhanced Life describing the category in detail.
In the above article, written in 2021, we predicted that the category of Hearables might start to converge with the category of “Over the Counter (OTC) Hearing Aids”. Today, in 2025, that has started to happen.
The clearest example of this is the Apple Product described below, which started as a traditional consumer electronic earbud for listening to music and making phone calls, and is now also classified as a Hearing Aid.
Apple AirPods Pro 2: Apple’s latest AirPods Pro 2 update (2024) adds an FDA‑cleared “clinical‑grade” hearing‑aid mode, phone‑based hearing test, and Conversation Awareness—potentially up‑ending entry‑level hearing aid pricing.
Hearables that are OTC Hearing Aids: There are other OTC Hearing Aids that have the appearance of an ear bud (Hearables). Examples include products from Sony and JLab. For a good overview of the various products within the OTC Hearing Aid category, and reviews, see the HearingTracker website (Ref 3).
Hearables that are NOT OTC Hearing Aids:There are also other Hearables that are not officially classified as OTC Hearing Aids, but which have some features that help hear better. Examples of the features include blocking out noise, and using AI processing in various ways to improve sound quality. Companies that have had products of this type include Sennheiser (Ref 4), which also has OTC Hearing Aids; and Nuheara (Ref 4).
Both Google and Samsung have products in the Hearables category, and are likely to be important players going forward.
In summary:
Hearables look like trendy consumer products, and may or may not have hearing aid capabilities — but typically have at least noise cancellation, and other hearing related features.
OTC Hearing Aids definitely have hearing aid capabilities, although quality can vary. Some OTC Hearing Aids have the appearance and form factor of an Ear Bud (trendy consumer product), while others look more like a conventional hearing aid.
Other Sound Amplification Gadgets
Before the emergence of the Hearables described above, a commonly suggested option for someone who wanted help to improve hearing, but did not want a hearing aid, was the product category called a Personal Amplifier.
These products are small portable boxes of electronics (in size rather like a phone), that amplify specific sounds without the need for a full hearing aid.
These devices are ideal for occasional use, like watching TV, attending theater performances, or dining in loud restaurants. They often come with earbuds or headsets for private listening and can be adjusted for volume and tone.
A ”Traditional” example of products like these is the Williams PocketTalker (Ref 5).
Another option is to use a phone as the personal amplifier — after adding one of a variety of Apps that can turn an iPhone or Android phone into a personal amplifier. In this scenario, the microphone in the phone picks up the sounds around you, then the App processes the sound (amplifying it, and ideally improving the signal to noise), and then sends the resultant sound to a headset or earbuds you are wearing). (Examples: Apple LiveListen or Android SoundAmplifier (Ref 6)).
Today we are seeing also emergence of devices (or earbuds) that can translate from one language to another in real time (using AI). Ideally, there would be a version of this that can both translate and amplify. We have not yet researched this enough to recommend specific examples, but our AI assistant suggest evaluating Googles PixelBuds + Google Translate, and mentions a rumor that Apple plans to add Live Translate capability in iOS19.
TV / Dialog Solutions
TV‑focused dialogue enhancers target a specific pain point: speech that is often masked by background music, explosions, or simply a partner with normal hearing who prefers lower volume.
You can see a discussion of this entire product category by the Longevity Explorers (with specific product examples) on Tech-enhanced Life.
4. Live Captioning Everywhere
Over the last few years it has become relatively easy for AI to create live captions under various forms of audio.
Over the last few years it has become relatively easy for AI to create live captions under various forms of audio.
This can work for films, but also for real time conversations in online meetings, and even for phone calls and live conversations. This opens up many possibilities for gadgets that can improve the lives of people with hearing issues by adding captions in ways that would have been clunky or very expensive in the past.
These solutions convert live speech into readable text—either on a phone screen or projected into a smart‑glasses display—so you can see what you can’t quite hear.
This approach can be especially useful in acoustically hostile spaces (reverberant halls, overlapping chatter) where even aggressive noise reduction fails.
Examples follow:
Both the Apple and Android ecosystems now include built-in live captioning capability in the form of iOS Live Captions and Android Live Caption.
The Apple solution can also provide live captioning for ambient speech using the phone’s microphone.
In the Android world, Live Caption is limited to things that happen on the phone (eg phone calls or video), but another App, (Google Live Transcribe, see below) can be used for ambient speech.
Importantly, both Apple and Android Live Caption solutions work as a result of AI processing entirely on the phone (no Internet required).
Apps like Google Live Transcribe and Otter use speech-to-text algorithms to provide instant captions for conversations, lectures, or meetings. These tools run on smartphones or tablets, displaying text almost simultaneously with spoken words, with accuracy rates improving thanks to advancements in natural language processing (NLP). These products (as of May 2025) typically do the processing in the cloud, and thus need an Internet connection.
Some platforms now integrate captioning into virtual environments. For example, Microsoft Teams and Zoom offer automated subtitles.
There are also special purpose Apps (eg Ava), specifically designed as captioning systems for helping hearing-impaired people. We have not evaluated these in depth, but suspect they have additional capabilities beyond those of the consumer products above. (Ref 7).
How the Experiences Feel Different
System caption overlays vs. dedicated transcript windows
Live Captions (iOS/Android) float above any app, so they’re ideal for following videos, podcasts, calls or social‑media clips when no subtitles are provided. You cannot export the text, and the box is intentionally minimalist.
Live Transcribe opens a full‑screen transcript you can scroll, search and copy during in‑person conversations—closer to a notepad than a subtitle strip.
Otter attends meetings as a bot and produces multi‑speaker transcripts with timestamps, summaries and “action items,” then stores them in the cloud. It is less helpful for casual device audio but far better for professional documentation.
Offline capability & privacy
iOS and Android captioning are 100 % on‑device once the feature is enabled—audio never leaves the phone.
Live Transcribe can now download language models for travel or poor connectivity, but history is still stored locally and auto‑deletes after 72 h.
Otter uploads audio to its servers; that enables powerful AI processing and sharing, but it’s subject to Otter’s privacy policy.
Language breadth & expressiveness
Apple still limits Live Captions to a handful of languages (full quality only in English), whereas Google keeps adding packs and even AI‑generated “Expressive Captions” that label tone (“whispers,” “APPLAUSE”) and emphasize loud speech.
Live Transcribe supports the most languages offline, but captions are plain text—no bold or tone cues.
Otter focuses on English accuracy; other languages are available online but may lack its headline AI‑summary features.
Saving, searching, sharing
If you need a permanent record (minutes, study notes, podcast quotes), Live Captions/Live Caption alone won’t cut it—use Live Transcribe (copy/paste) or Otter (full export, team links).
For instant accessibility—e.g., watching a TikTok without sound—system Live Captions are fastest (one swipe/tap).
Cost & ecosystem fit
System features are free but hardware‑locked (Apple silicon; recent Pixels/Samsung).
Live Transcribe is free and runs on most Android phones, even older ones.
Otter incurs subscription fees once you exceed 300 minutes/month, but its collaboration tools can justify the price for teams.
In the next section we describe a new category of products in which glasses project captions in real time into your field of view.
5. Glasses that Help You Hear
There are now a variety of companies pursuing the idea of a pair of eyeglasses, equipped with additional capabilities (microphone, speakers, AI processing for example), that can help augment your view of the surrounding world in various ways.
There are now a variety of companies pursuing the idea of a pair of eyeglasses, equipped with additional capabilities, that can help augment your view of the surrounding world..
Some of these ideas are especially relevant to those with hearing challenges.
Glasses with Captions
One idea is that the glasses would “listen” to the surrounding environment (using a built in but unobtrusive microphone), process that audio using built in AI, and then project captions into your field of view in the area of the eyeglasses that you look through.
As one Longevity Explorer (Pete K) commented to us via email:
“I want a pair of eyeglasses that could let me not use my hearing aids any more nor the device plugged into my TV that lets me hear the TV through my hearing aids.
What I want is a pair of glasses that can:
1. Have a heads up display of closed captioning that picks up the words others are saying live with me or on my TV and displays the closed captioning out in front of my glasses.
2. I can have my optical prescription installed in the eyeglasses and get all the features I currently have on my eyeglasses (auto dim, scratch resistant, etc.).
3. The closed captioning could translate other languages so I could see the translations in English on my heads up display.
4. Easy recharge and simple software updates.
5. No need for WiFi or cell phone.
I suspect many are like me. We have hearing aids that we do not enjoy wearing and they do not let us understand the TV show dialogue so we end up clicking on closed captioning on the TV. It would be great to always have closed captioning with my glasses.
One example that caught our attention (NOTE: We have not evaluated it so are not sure how well it achieves its potential):
XanderGlasses (CES 2024 Innovation Award) (Ref 8).
Glasses + Hearing Amplifiers
Beyond simple captioning, Smart Glasses are emerging as a dual-purpose solution, combining visual and auditory enhancements.
Products worth exploring:
Models like Amazon’s Echo Frames or Bose Frames incorporate directional speakers that deliver audio directly to the user’s ears without blocking environmental sounds. (Ref 9).
Nuance Audio OTC Hearing Glasses: These combine vision correction and hearing amplification into one product, in the form of eyeglasses. They have FDA approval as OTC hearing aids (but with presets, not fully personalized). (Ref 10).
6. Turning Sound into Vibration
Conduction Wearables
Viewed as an alternative to earbuds in certain circumstances, conduction wearables seem targeted at active users who want to combine some hearing assistance, with continued situational awareness (eg when out on a walk).
Conduction wearables bypass the eardrum by turning incoming audio into gentle vibrations that are delivered through the cartilage of the outer ear or the mastoid bone.
Because the ear canal stays open, you retain full environmental awareness, experience no “plugged‑up” occlusion effect, and can comfortably pair the device with earplugs, helmets, or safety gear. They are also easier to keep clean—nothing seals sweat or wax inside the canal—and they eliminate feedback problems that plague small in‑ear microphones.
For active users who reject conventional earbuds on comfort or hygiene grounds, conduction wearables offer a uniquely low‑friction path to occasional speech enhancement.
There are some Limitations:
Lower acoustic headroom. Because cartilage and bone transmit high frequencies better than low, bass response and overall loudness are limited—fine for speech, underwhelming for music.
Ambient‑noise trade‑off. The same open‑ear design that preserves situational awareness also lets external noise compete with the conducted signal; SNR gains are modest.
Sound leakage. Vibrations can be audible to bystanders in very quiet rooms, which may not suit library or office settings.
Limited benefit for moderate‑to‑severe loss. Users needing > 20 dB gain typically find conduction insufficient.
Tactile fatigue. Some wearers report a slight tickle or pressure sensation after extended use (2–3 hours).
Specific Product Examples:
See several examples of this type of product in Ref. 11.
Part 2: Hearing Aids & Cochlear Implants
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References & Further Reading
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (2022) Epidemiology of Mild Hearing Loss. AND NHATS/NIH. and McCormack, A., and H. Fortnum. 2013. “Why Do People Fitted with Hearing Aids not Wear Them?” International Journal of Audiology 52 (5): 360–368.
Hearing Tracker website: review on OTC Hearing Aids
Examples of other Hearables: Sennheiser, Nuheara.
Portable Amplifiers: Williams PocketTalker;
Various Personal Amplifier Apps (e.g.: Apple LiveListen or Android SoundAmplifier.)
Special purpose captioning apps: eg Ava.
Nuance Audio OTC Hearing Glasses: (See Nuance Audio website).
Examples of conduction wearables: Shokz is a pioneer of this type of products and offers a variety of models. Audio‑Technica’s 2025 ATH‑CC500BT2; Bose Ultra Open Earbuds (2025).
Disclaimers: None of the parties responsible for this post (Longevity Explorers LLC, Tech-enhanced Life, the individuals who wrote it) have financial relationships with any of the mentioned vendors. None of the links in this post are affiliate links. This is NOT medical advice.