A study showed that AirPods Pro can be used as a hearing aid, and its performance is not inferior to that of tens of thousands of dollars of high-end special hearing aids. In the roadmap for improving accessibility services, Apple regards the hearing aid function as the medium-term development goal of AirPods and has achieved some results.
A professional hearing aid is a very complex and sophisticated device that has functions such as filtering unwanted frequency ranges and focusing on specific directions so that hearing-impaired users can hear other people's conversations and surrounding sounds more clearly and many more.
However, such professional hearing aids are expensive. A typical mid-range hearing aid usually costs several thousand dollars, while a high-end hearing aid can cost more than $10,000.
This also means that many hearing-impaired patients cannot afford the high cost of hearing aids. According to a survey, only one in six people under the age of 70 in the United States who need hearing aids have hearing aids.
Apple has long been interested in hearing aid capabilities. Back in 2013, the company's MFi program expanded to allow iPhones to add functionality to Bluetooth hearing aids.
In 2018, iOS 12 added the Live Listen to function, and Apple introduced the Conversation Boost function for AirPods Pro last year, which can improve the microphone pickup from the front of you to better communicate with others.
A study published Tuesday in the journal iScience found that the sound amplification feature of Apple's AirPods Pro can help adults with mild to moderate hearing loss hear sounds as well as two professional headphones. Prescription hearing aids.
The study pointed out that although AirPods Pro does not meet the hearing aid standards of the US Food and Drug Administration, the sound amplified by the device is not inferior to other hearing aid devices. The study was small, however, and objective testing found that the AirPods Pro met four of the five hearing aid standards.
In the sound and clarity tests used to assess the performance of some hearing aids, the AirPods Pro met the established standards in four of the five categories, while the AirPods 2 met the standard in two areas.
Study co-author Ying-Hui Lai, associate professor of biomedical engineering at National Yang Ming University in Taiwan, said the AirPods Pro exceeded the ideal threshold for internal noise levels, which could make it harder for users to distinguish lighter Sound and Speech.
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