Carbon Monoxide Speeds Up Hearing Loss
I knew carbon monoxide was bad for your health and in large quantities can kill you. But I never knew it was bad for your hearing too. Two researchers from the University of Montreal have conducted a long-term study of workers in industries where high noise levels and high levels of carbon monoxide are common. Read more
Bluetooth Bandwagon Builds Momentum, But Where Are The HOH Products?
Every week it seems we hear of another new product for hard-of-hearing (HOH) consumers utilizing the Bluetooth wireless communications standard. In addition to my post last month on Sound ID, I’ve recently discovered that Starkey Laboratories, Micro-Tech Hearing Instruments, Sonomax Hearing Healthcare, and Gennum Corp. are also getting into the act. And I’m sure there are more. My only comment on all these efforts is, “Sounds great, guys, but when will we actually see (and hear) the products?” Read more
MedBio Announces Real-Time Voice Recognition
Last week I posted a note about my dream of a speech recognition system that could be mounted on a pair of eyeglasses and project real-time captions. This week I see MedBio Research Centre in Hawaii has announced just such a system. The MedBio “Speak ‘n Read” system integrates speech recognition into a Sony hand-held computer that records the speaker’s voice and immediately displays captions on both the computer screen and a small projector on a pair of eyeglass frames. The company’s web site lists plenty of qualifications on how well it works under what conditions, but it’s impressive there’s a commercial product out there now. Distribution will be through audiologists and other hearing professionals.
More Boomers Than We Knew Have Hearing Loss
Bad news for boomers, good news for hearing aid manufacturers: A survey by The Ear Foundation finds that more American baby boomers than previously thought are losing their hearing, with nearly half the total of those aged 50 to 59 reporting some degree of hearing loss. A 1990 National Health Interview Survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that only 20 percent in a comparable group were suffering from hearing loss. Read more
Infants With Cochlear Implants Get More Language Sooner
A recent research report published by a team at Indiana University provides more evidence that the younger a hearing-impaired child receives a cochlear implant, the quicker he or she is to acquire spoken language. Read more