Hearables as a Gateway to Hearing Health Care: A Review

Abstract

The market for hearing technology is evolving—with the emergence of hearables, it now goes beyond hearing aids and includes any ear-level devices with wireless connectivity (i.e., wireless earbuds). However, will this evolving marketplace bring forth opportunities or challenges to individuals

Perception and expectations of personal sound amplification products in Korea: A hospital-based, multi-center, cross-sectional survey

“…Among individuals with subjective hearing loss, only 5 (3.5%) had experience with PSAPs. This is much lower than the PSAP adoption rate of 9.6% in individuals with hearing difficulties in the United States [ 13 ]. In this study, since we relied on the survey responses by the respondents, it was not possible to check if the 5 respondents who responded to have experience with PSAPs actually used them; the respondents could have mistakenly considered other types of AHDs as PSAPs.…”

“…PSAPs are defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as “wearable electronic products that are intended to amplify sounds for people who are not deaf or hard of hearing.” The FDA decouples PSAPs from conventional HAs, stating that PSAPs are not targeted for hearing loss individuals. However, the market size of sound amplifiers is gradually growing with major companies such as Samsung and Bose entering the market, and the MarkeTrak 10 data reported that 9.6% of individuals with hearing difficulties adopted PSAPs, while 40.6% adopted Has [ 13 , 14 ].…”

Health-Related Indicators Measured Using Earable Devices: Systematic Review

“…We excluded articles not related to humans (eg, animal studies) and those that focused solely on ear function or ear disease (eg, hearing loss, hearing aids, and hearing aid signal processing). Studies related to hearing were excluded as such functions were already reviewed in a recent study [ 25 ]. In addition, editorials and letters were excluded (Table S2 in Multimedia Appendix 2 ).…”

“…Ota et al [ 22 ] expanded the earable device concept, defining such a device as a “wearable electronic designed to be worn around the ear.” Hunn [ 23 ] coined the term “hearable” in 2014 to refer to a device “that fits in or on an ear that contains a wireless link, whether that’s for audio, or remote control of audio augmentation.” The potential use of hearable devices for the measurement of vital signs has been reviewed extensively [ 3 , 24 ]. Hearables are a promising type of hearing device for individuals with hearing loss [ 25 ]. As “earable” indicates only the device position whereas “hearable” suggests both ear position and involvement in hearing function, we conceptualize hearables as a subset of earables, which in turn are a subtype of wearables ( Multimedia Appendix 1 ).…”

“…The potential use of hearable devices for the measurement of vital signs has been reviewed extensively [3,24]. Hearables are a promising type of hearing device for individuals with hearing loss [25]. As "earable" indicates only the device position whereas "hearable" suggests both ear position and involvement in hearing function, we conceptualize hearables as a subset of earables, which in turn are a subtype of wearables (Multimedia Appendix 1).…”