Understanding the Personal Sound Amplification Products Market

Trying to find the most suitable personal device for sound amplification for yourself, or for a family member, can potentially require a vast amount of research. There are so many available products in this product category, that it can be both confusing and time-consuming to determine which one is the best fit for the intended user.

Lets’s Start With Defining the User’s Personal Requirements

As you probably already know, each person’s hearing condition diagnosis is unique. Even in cases where there was no medical or hearing professional evaluation, each person’s personal hearing level is unique.

When you begin the process of researching the various personal sound amplification products, it is necessary to define the intended user’s personal lifestyle and requirements.

Every device in this product category provides a different set of new personal capabilities that are based on the product’s available features. Once you have a clear definition of what you need, finding the right device will be easier, and it will provide the highest level of value for the person who will be using it.

How Can Devices Help People Who are Hard of Hearing?

One of the most important things that you need to understand is that there is no such thing as a magical device that can instantly cure hearing loss. Having that said, there are personal sound amplification products out there that can literally change a person’s life.

For people who are hard of hearing, any small sound amplification that a device can provide them with can make an enormous difference in their lifestyle. Personal sound amplification products fall into the assistive technology category. Assistive technology devices are built specifically to enable people with special needs to be able to perform activities or tasks that they would otherwise find difficult to perform.

Sound amplification products help people who are hard of hearing by increasing the volume of sounds in their vicinity. Even though this is a general description, it is in fact what these personal devices actually do. In order for someone to be able to use personal sound amplification devices, they need to still be able to hear, at least to a certain extent.

Use Cases and Benefits of Using Personal Sound Amplification Products

There are a variety of ways in which sound amplification devices and products can help people with hearing impairments. In addition, anyone who needs them will find different use cases for them. You can separate the use cases into three different scenarios where the devices can be used.

The first one is for regular day-to-day conversations that take place at the intended user’s home. This is probably the most necessary use case for people who need personal sound amplification products. Whether they live on their own, or in an assisted living facility, the day-to-day conversations with people is the most common and the most necessary use cases of all.

The second scenario is when people need to go out and have conversations in noisy environments. This use case can apply to situations such as taking care of errands, shopping at the grocery store, shopping for clothing, going to the bank, attending doctor’s appointments, and so forth.

For the third use case, there are only a few devices that can be of assistance. Most people with a hearing impairment will require a device for this use case. Attending events, parties, conventions, and any other gathering with a large number of people in attendance, requires a personal device with sound cancellation capabilities. In this particular use case, it is not only about amplifying sounds for the user to be able to hear them. It is also a matter of canceling out the irrelevant sounds so that the most important sounds can be heard by the user.

While some devices will help with one use case or another, there aren’t many devices that will be helpful with all of the three use cases that were presented above. There is one device, in particular, that can provide the necessary technological features to help with each and every one of these three use cases.

Say Hello to OrCam Hear

OrCam Hear is a portable, wearable, miniature device that uses a tiny camera to determine which sounds to amplify and which to cancel out. It is the perfect solution for what is most commonly referred to as the Cocktail Party Effect.

OrCam Hear uses advanced algorithms to provide people with hearing impairments that need personal sound amplification products, with the most useful device possible. OrCam Hear monitors lip, mouth, and chin movements to determine who is speaking to the person using it, and who isn’t. It can be used in any setting, whether the user is speaking to only one person, or to multiple people simultaneously.