Later this year Apple’s AirPods Pro will add an over-the-counter Hearing Aid capability for users with mild to moderate hearing loss.
Using the personalized hearing profile from the Hearing Test, this new feature transforms AirPods Pro into a clinical-grade hearing aid, says Sumbul Desai, M.D., Apple’s vice president of Health, says. Now Apple has been granted a patent (number US 12089008 B2) for “Remotely Updating a Hearing Aid Profile.”
About the hearing aid feature
After setup, the feature enables personalized dynamic adjustments so users have the sounds around them boosted in real time. Desai says this helps users better engage in conversation and keeps them connected to the people and environment around them. With the audio quality of AirPods Pro, the user’s personalized hearing profile is automatically applied to music, movies, games, and phone calls across their devices without needing to adjust any settings.
Users can also set up the Hearing Aid feature with an audiogram created by a hearing health professional. Both the Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features are grounded in science and were validated through rigorous scientific studies, Desai says. The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features are expected to receive marketing authorization from global health authorities soon, and will be available this fall in more than 100 countries and regions, including the United States, Germany, and Japan.
After taking the Hearing Test, users can also use their hearing profile to personalize the AirPods Pro listening experience. Desai says this benefits even more people, including those with little to no hearing loss, who can take advantage of specific adjustments at individual frequencies. To help provide the best listening experience, Media Assist is an all-new feature that helps boost certain parts of speech on a phone call or instruments within a soundtrack to help an even broader population.
About the patent
The patent relates to a method, system and apparatus for processing and/or enhancing audio signals used by a hearing aid. In particular, techniques for providing real time adjustment of a hearing aid audio processing are described. It would allow those using AirPods Pro as a hearing aid to modify the audio processing of the programmable hearing aid in real time in accordance with the context for which the hearing aid is or will be used.
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Broadly speaking, the embodiments disclosed herein describe replacing a current hearing aid profile stored in a hearing aid. In one embodiment, the hearing aid profile is updated by sending a hearing aid profile update request to a hearing aid profile service, receiving the updated hearing aid profile from the hearing aid profile service, and replacing the current hearing aid profile in the hearing aid with the updated hearing aid profile.”
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