{"id":3065,"date":"2021-02-15T19:41:27","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T19:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1339022"},"modified":"2021-02-15T19:41:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T19:41:27","slug":"this-ai-powered-gadget-could-completely-disrupt-the-ridiculous-hearing-aid-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=3065","title":{"rendered":"This AI-powered gadget could completely disrupt the ridiculous hearing aid market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Hearing loss sucks. It\u2019s exhausting. I\u2019ve suffered from partial hearing loss in both ears since the mid 2000\u2019s. In order to function in the real world, I\u2019m forced to exist in a state of constant vigilance. I have to actively listen all the time<\/i> in order to avoid creating an environment where people are constantly raising their voice at me.<\/p>\n

Over time I developed a methodology for interpreting physical and verbal cues to understand what people were saying to me in situations where it was difficult to hear \u2013 such as at a conference or at a table with multiple conversations happening at once.<\/p>\n

Then COVID-19 happened and everyone started wearing masks. It was like starting all over again because I couldn\u2019t watch people\u2019s lips to fill in the blanks my hearing left out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s estimated over 5% of the world\u2019s population suffers from hearing loss. While it\u2019s most commonly associated with the elderly, hearing loss is also the most prevalent service-related disability among US military veterans.<\/p>\n

The fact of the matter is that hearing loss affects people of all demographics, from children with congenital conditions, to otherwise-healthy adults who\u2019ve suffered injury or illness, to the elderly who experience age-related onset.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, as the CEO and cofounder of Whisper AI<\/a>, Dwight Crow recently told me, \u201cIt isn\u2019t a very sexy problem to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI for good<\/b><\/p>\n

Whisper\u2019s an interesting company. It builds niche hardware as a means to onboard potential customers to its subscription-based update service. That\u2019s probably not how the company\u2019s marketing team would like its work described, but it\u2019s challenging to reconcile the startup\u2019s ambition with its simplicity.<\/p>\n

The big idea here is pretty basic: You get hardware into people\u2019s hands and then use your algorithms to keep them coming back for more. Usually, this model is reserved for entities such as YouTube and Twitter. The end game is typically to keep your attention for as long as possible so you\u2019ll watch as many ads as the big tech bosses can shove down your throat.<\/p>\n

But Whisper\u2019s not trying to dupe you into infinitely scrolling in order to soften you up for impulse purchases, it\u2019s trying to solve all <\/em>of the problems with the hearing aid market.<\/p>\n

Hearing aids suck<\/b><\/p>\n

Hearing devices and the examinations necessary for a medical professional to recommend them are not covered by Medicare or most insurers in the US. This means people with hearing loss \u2013 of which low or fixed-income people comprise a significantly high percentage of \u2013 have to come out of pocket for their devices more often than not. And that means paying anywhere from one to six thousands dollars per device on average.<\/p>\n

The high-end devices using traditional hearing aid tech are okay \u2013 once you surpass the cost of a pair of audiophile-worthy music headphones it stands to reason you\u2019ll get more than just \u201cit makes things louder.\u201d Okay is better than nothing, but it still means people have to live with substandard hearing, even when its augmented.<\/p>\n

Whisper\u2019s solution to hearing loss offers the prospect of not only augmenting your hearing, but reaching superhuman levels<\/a> when it comes to distinguishing targeted sounds from noise.<\/p>\n

How it works<\/b><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, algorithms pick apart audio to find all the salient sounds through a process called segmentation. This works similar to how AI figures out what\u2019s in a photograph. If, for example, you snap a selfie in front of a sunset, Google\u2019s AI can pick apart different pieces of the image to label. It might decide there\u2019s a you<\/i>, a sunset, a beach, some clouds, and some birds in the picture. <\/span><\/p>\n

Later, if you\u2019ve got the proper hardware and you\u2019re using Google Photos, you can simply say \u201chey Google, show me all my beach pics,\u201d or \u201chey Google, find images with clouds,\u201d and the AI can surface those results. <\/span><\/p>\n

It works the same with audio segmentation, though it\u2019s much trickier to work with overlapping <\/span>noisy <\/i>sounds than it is to work with flat images. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whisper didn\u2019t invent the technology its using<\/a> \u2013 natural language processing and audio detection, segmentation, and isolation, have been around for as long as there\u2019s been audio devices \u2013 but it\u2019s among the first companies to develop it into an immediately-useful solution to an ages old problem. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whisper uses a proprietary ear device that\u2019s designed to be more comfortable than average hearing aids. It connects wireless to a \u201cWhisper Brain\u201d that processes the audio using modern algorithms, this keeps it from being bulky. What\u2019s revolutionary, aside from the tech implementation, is how Whisper solves the surrounding problems concerning hearing loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than charge thousands for the device, Whisper works on a subscription plan. This not only allows customers to experience hearing improvements without investing thousands up front, but ensures they\u2019ll receive regular updates as the company improves its AI.<\/span><\/p>\n

Better still, Whisper offers full damage and loss replacement for three years so you don\u2019t have to worry about you or your loved ones doing without one of their five senses just because something bad happens or they don\u2019t have a large enough emergency fund. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why it\u2019s important <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Numerous studies<\/a> have shown a direct link between hearing loss and dementia. Yet there have been few longitudinal studies involving long-term outcomes for Alzheimer\u2019s patients who\u2019ve had hearing loss interventions. The research shows that people suffering from hearing loss experience isolation, which can be correlated to worsening dementia symptoms, but exactly how much cognitive benefit a better hearing device could provide people remains unclear. <\/span><\/p>\n

When I spoke to Whisper CEO Dwight Crow, he explained that the time was right for disruption:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

We\u2019ve seen an explosion in the ability to extract semantic sense from language \u2026 ultimately, we want to provide people with a better signal to noise ratio. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But how much difference can \u201cbetter\u201d make when it comes to hearing aids? The status quo aren\u2019t too far removed, in purpose, from the old <\/span>go stick a horn in your ear<\/i> method from the pre-electronics age. Now, hearing aids use specialty microphones to pick up noises and an onboard audio processor to boost the signals the device gauges as within the proper frequency \u2014 but the end benefit for users isn\u2019t all that much greater than just turning the volume up. <\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out that hearing aids can not only get a lot better, but even a tiny bit of clarity actually makes a huge difference. According to Crow: <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Ours performs two-to-three decibels better than any other hearing aid. That\u2019s the difference, for many people, between comprehensible and incomprehensible. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s next<\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a turnkey AI solution where some fly-by-night startup taps into a hardware market to peddle repackaged university AI (looking at you, Amazon\u2019s second-page AI smart gadgets market). <\/span><\/p>\n

Whisper\u2019s built a lab in California, it\u2019s worked with the Mitsubishi group on research<\/a>, and its product development process includes working closely with groups of people who live with hearing loss. And, from what I could tell from my conversation with Crow, the company really cares.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I asked why they wanted to build a better hearing aid instead of taking the same technology and know-how and building spy-tech with DARPA for the Pentagon or something like that, Crow said it was because  with Whisper \u201cthere\u2019s just such an opportunity to help people.\u201d Both Crow and his co-founder<\/a><\/span> decided to create the company after watching loved ones struggle with hearing loss and the status quo.<\/p>\n

You can find out more about Whisper here<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Published February 15, 2021 \u2014 19:41 UTC <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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