Signia promotes accessibility with prescription-grade hearing aids that look like traditional earbuds

The Signia Active Pro IX in their charging case.

Signia/ZDNET

Hearing aids are a vital piece of accessibility technology. According to the FDA, almost 30 million adults in the US experience a degree of hearing loss. Despite that prominent figure, only one-fifth of those people choose to address their hearing loss with hearing devices and aids.

Some people may be turned off by hearing aids due to societal stigmas stemming from their historically bulky and unfashionable appearance. Signa hopes to turn the tide with the Signia Active Pro IX and Active IX hearing aids. They are consumer earbuds that double as prescription-grade hearing aids for people who want to enhance their hearing while maintaining a low profile.

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The Active Pro IX use Signia's proprietary Integrated Xperience hearing platform to help those with hearing loss remain active participants in everyday conversation. According to Signia, the hearing platform uses Signia's RealTime Conversation Enhancement solution, which can process up to four focus streams.

A focus stream refers to how the hearing aids focus on sounds coming from the front of the wearer. The hearing aids then use augmentation to enhance conversational noises from all directions while reducing extraneous background noises.

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Signia's new hearing aids can process multiple voices within a conversation, helping users stay immersed in all subsets of a conversation, a challenge many hearing aid wearers experience, according to Signia.

A Signia study found that the Integrated Xperience platform produced a +12dB signal-to-noise ratio in simulated group conversations. This positive decibel level means that the technology makes the hearing aids' signal 12 times stronger than the imitated background noise, allowing wearers to distinguish speech over background noise better.

Companies like Signia manufacture hearing aids that resemble earbuds to remove the stigma and possible embarrassment associated with wearing hearing aids. We all know someone who constantly has earbuds in their ears, and that's perfectly acceptable, so why not integrate earbuds with hearing enhancement technology?

By making hearing aids look like everyday tech, more people who need them may be inclined to wear them. Signia asserts that the Active IX and Active Pro IX are also aimed at anyone with hearing loss who feels disconnected from society, as these hearing aids can keep wearers engaged while working, exercising, and socializing.

The Signia Active IX in Black.

Signia/ZDNET

"By challenging the status quo of traditional hearing aids, Signia is expanding access to hearing technology. With Signia Active Pro IX, we're giving people an appealing consumer design and an unprecedented solution for reconnecting with conversations on their own terms," Jens Møller, Global Head of Signia Brand, said in a press release.

The Active IX operate at a different hearing enhancement level but offer the same traditional earbud design, connectivity, and features. Signia says offering different hearing technology levels helps make hearing aids more accessible, addressing issues like hearing loss severity and financial ability.

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Both upcoming Signia hearing aids are only available by prescription, so interested consumers must visit an audiologist first to assess their hearing capabilities. The Signia Active IX and Active Pro IX will be available in the US in December.