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AirPods Pro 2 hearing aid and hearing test features approved to launch in Canada

34 points by amichail 2y ago

julianlam 2y ago
My son's audiologist is (of course) quite bearish on this whole prospect. Her response was to ask who is going to do the audiogram programming for the airpods. I imagine this is probably something that could be automated away, though.
- ender341341 2y ago
  I feel like that's letting perfect be in the way of better. Are airpods the best hearing aid? no, but they cost 1/5 the cost from what I'm seeing for 'cheap' professionally fit & programmed hearing aids which opens it up to a lot of people who otherwise might be struggling to interact with the world.
  - duskwuff 2y ago
    Yep. They're also a hearing aid that isn't conspicuously a hearing aid (i.e. "I'm not hard of hearing, I was just listening to some music earlier and haven't taken them out"). For younger users who might feel self-conscious about using a hearing aid, that's a big plus.
- DoctorOW 2y ago
  > I imagine this is probably something that could be automated away, though. Even if it isn't, the audio programming capability can likely be added to the software completely eliminating hardware costs for anyone who already owns Airpods.
- SSLy 2y ago
  > who is going to do the audiogram programming for the airpods. you mean using the gram output as filter stack? That's in the options > airpods > on the bottom.
  - duskwuff 2y ago
    It can also scan in a printed audiogram (using the camera) and apply corrections based on that.
- gedy 2y ago
  > Her response was to ask who is going to do the audiogram programming for the airpods. I'm not following, Apple has released a hearing test app with this and it works quite well. (I use these as hearing aids)
nsxwolf 2y ago
I wanted to try this for auditory processing disorder, but I passed the hearing test with flying colors, so it won't let me try. Is this some regulatory thing?
- CamJN 2y ago
  Not likely. It needs to build a profile of what sounds you can’t hear in order to know what to specifically make louder, if there’s nothing to specifically make louder, then the feature cannot work. Just turn up the volume, or increase the noise cancelling, or turn on voice isolation, or whatever you actually want it to do.
  - nsxwolf 2y ago
    My hope is that it will one day be able to attenuate the speech of people I'm not trying to listen to.
    - klipklop 2y ago
      Yeah I was hoping for this too. But sadly it wont let you turn it on..
    - CamJN 2y ago
      That’s an interesting idea, but I wonder, how would it know who you want to hear? Like if I’m sitting at a long table for a big family meal, I’d want to hear everyone, but if I’m sitting on a bus I’d like to only hear the person I know, sitting next to me. I can’t imagine there’s a good way to differentiate those situations.
klipklop 2y ago
One thing that is a bummer about this feature is if you have little to no hearing loss you cant turn it on anyways to "enhance" your hearing.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  You've been able to do that for years now, in a way. I forget which setting it's under, but it uses your iPhone mic. It's actually really wild, you feel like a spy. You can eavesdrop on conversations you wouldn't be able to hear otherwise. But you have to be extremely careful, because if a loud sound comes along then yikes.

34 points by amichail 2y ago

My son's audiologist is (of course) quite bearish on this whole prospect. Her response was to ask who is going to do the audiogram programming for the airpods. I imagine this is probably something that could be automated away, though.

ender341341 2y ago
I feel like that's letting perfect be in the way of better. Are airpods the best hearing aid? no, but they cost 1/5 the cost from what I'm seeing for 'cheap' professionally fit & programmed hearing aids which opens it up to a lot of people who otherwise might be struggling to interact with the world.
- duskwuff 2y ago
  Yep. They're also a hearing aid that isn't conspicuously a hearing aid (i.e. "I'm not hard of hearing, I was just listening to some music earlier and haven't taken them out"). For younger users who might feel self-conscious about using a hearing aid, that's a big plus.
DoctorOW 2y ago
> I imagine this is probably something that could be automated away, though. Even if it isn't, the audio programming capability can likely be added to the software completely eliminating hardware costs for anyone who already owns Airpods.
SSLy 2y ago
> who is going to do the audiogram programming for the airpods. you mean using the gram output as filter stack? That's in the options > airpods > on the bottom.
- duskwuff 2y ago
  It can also scan in a printed audiogram (using the camera) and apply corrections based on that.
gedy 2y ago
> Her response was to ask who is going to do the audiogram programming for the airpods. I'm not following, Apple has released a hearing test app with this and it works quite well. (I use these as hearing aids)

nsxwolf 2y ago

I wanted to try this for auditory processing disorder, but I passed the hearing test with flying colors, so it won't let me try. Is this some regulatory thing?

CamJN 2y ago
Not likely. It needs to build a profile of what sounds you can’t hear in order to know what to specifically make louder, if there’s nothing to specifically make louder, then the feature cannot work. Just turn up the volume, or increase the noise cancelling, or turn on voice isolation, or whatever you actually want it to do.
- nsxwolf 2y ago
  My hope is that it will one day be able to attenuate the speech of people I'm not trying to listen to.
  - klipklop 2y ago
    Yeah I was hoping for this too. But sadly it wont let you turn it on..
  - CamJN 2y ago
    That’s an interesting idea, but I wonder, how would it know who you want to hear? Like if I’m sitting at a long table for a big family meal, I’d want to hear everyone, but if I’m sitting on a bus I’d like to only hear the person I know, sitting next to me. I can’t imagine there’s a good way to differentiate those situations.

klipklop 2y ago

One thing that is a bummer about this feature is if you have little to no hearing loss you cant turn it on anyways to "enhance" your hearing.

crazygringo 2y ago
You've been able to do that for years now, in a way. I forget which setting it's under, but it uses your iPhone mic. It's actually really wild, you feel like a spy. You can eavesdrop on conversations you wouldn't be able to hear otherwise. But you have to be extremely careful, because if a loud sound comes along then yikes.