New Glasses Double as Hearing Aids

Schematic of the hearing glasses. The sound signals from the microphones pass through a special processor before they are conducted to the ear. Credit: Varibel

A new type of eyeglasses hear just fine.

Scientists from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands have developed spectacles with tiny embedded microphones on each side.

This is no laboratory pipedream. They were developed commercially and people are already wearing them.

The glasses, called Varibel, dampen surrounding noise while selectively strengthening sounds coming from in front of the wearer. The device separates proffered sounds from the unwanted with twice the sensitivity of a traditional hearing aid, the manufacturer claims. 

According to the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, one in three people past the age of 60 suffer from hearing loss.

Apart from their unaesthetic appearance, traditional hearing aids intensify sounds from all directions, sometimes making it hard for a user to focus on normal conversation. This causes many to withdraw from social settings and even leave their jobs earlier in life.

But with Varibel, sounds are picked up primarily from the direction a user is looking.

"Practical experience with the hearing-glasses supports the theoretical claims that the ability to understand speech is much better,” said Cor Stengs, a researcher involved with the clinical tests of the product. “There is a significant improvement in the sound quality.”

• The Future of Glasses: Electronic Bifocals
• Pete Townshend Blames Headphones for Hearing Loss
• Why Screaming Doesn't Make You Deaf