Looking Ahead to 2023

Every new year brings with it new trends and different focuses, so we’ve highlighted here a few things that we think will be trending in 2023 with regard to your hearing wellbeing.

Rechargeable Hearing Aids

Rechargeable hearing aids have been popular for a number of years now, but expect them to become even more so in 2023. They are super convenient, just charge while you sleep and you’re ready to go each morning; no more purchasing and changing batteries! As there is no need for disposable batteries, they also produce no waste which is much better for the environment. We think disposable battery powered hearing aids will definitely be in the minority by the end of 2023…watch this space!

Noise Induced Hearing Loss

Something we have discussed a lot on this blog in recent years! By now, you surely know that noise exposure is one of the most preventable causes of hearing loss. Globally, noise induced hearing loss is becoming more and more popular in younger generations thanks to music devices being set too loud. We anticipate that there will be a focus in 2023 on protecting your hearing and turning the noise DOWN! We have previously spoken at length about how to protect yourself but we will reiterate that turning the volume down on any audio devices is a must and limiting the time spent listening to them too. If you are attending any loud events, such as a music concert or firework display, we would always recommend wearing noise reducing ear plugs.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Your streaming provider assesses what you like to watch and suggests new things for you, your smartphone accurately suggests an ending to your sentences and your heating system chooses a comfortable temperature for you. These things aren’t coincidences, they are AI; more specifically machine learning which is just one category of AI. There are hearing aids that can track your brain and body health, translate different languages for you in real time and even detect if you’ve had a fall. We expect to see more and more developments to hearing aids using AI and we cannot wait to see what’s coming next!

Remote Healthcare

Due to the COVID pandemic, we saw a lot of things go online; this included medical appointments. Next year we expect to see an increase in virtual hearing aid appointments and remote controlling of hearing aids. Clearly, not all appointments can be done remotely but for a quick adjustment of settings, how simple and quick would this make things!

Connectivity

Streaming sound directly to your hearing aids is already becoming very popular among hearing aid users. You can connect them to your TV, smart speaker, smartphone or any music player with Bluetooth functionality. Your hearing aids can simply act as a pair of wireless headphones for you meaning you can watch a movie, listen to the latest episode of your favourite podcast or indulge in your musical guilty pleasure with ease. We expect the number of people streaming directly to their hearing aids will continue to rise in popularity next year. Not only can you connect to your smartphone for streaming purposes but also so that your hearing aids can be controlled via an app. You can easily adjust the volume, switch between programs and check how much charge they have remaining (among other things!).

We love that hearing technology is constantly progressing to help you stay healthy, engaged and connected and we can’t wait to see what newness 2023 brings.