hearables/hearing technology

Startups targeting the older adult market segments continue to emerge.  The oldest baby boomer has reached age 80 and many will live well past that age. Reports are emerging that assess this longevity phenomenon.. Many live alone, and some may be in need of the emerging technologies to help preserve quality of life and independence. These could appear in the caregiving space, offer check in calls to older adults living alone, strategies for aging in place, or assisting the hearing impaired. Here are five new technologies for older adults that have emerged in recent weeks and months.  The text is derived directly from the websites of the companies themselves.

What is the prevalence of hearing loss today?  One-third of adults between 65 and 75 have age-related hearing loss. Further, 40-50% of adults aged 75 and older have age-related hearing loss, with 50% of those aged 85+. This is the result of changes in blood flow and the structures of the inner ear, changes to a nerve related to hearing, and changes to how the brain processes speech and sounds. Hearing loss is correctable – but many older adults avoid hearing aids or don’t wear them. Many with untreated hearing loss are at risk of developing dementia. Despite the fact that hearing aids can improve hearing and reverse the social isolation and cognitive decline that can result from hearing loss, most adults with hearing loss do not use hearing aids – or defer their use for as many as ten years following its onset.  Learn more.

The FDA jumps to approve when Apple approaches.  This sounded familiar, and merits a look back to a blog post from September 2018: “When Apple speaks, a puzzled market listens. When Apple announces, industries crane their necks to hear. They announced two features of a new watch, ECG monitoring and fall detection. In July, Tim Cook apparently did not want to get into the world of FDA regulation. Well, that was then – or he just wasn’t saying. In this new watch, both the ECG feature and fall detection have received FDA clearance within 30 days of applying, startling some observers who noted that closer to 150 days was more typical for a medical device. Healthcare observers are concerned that false positives from ECG readings could propel people unnecessarily to already-overloaded Emergency Rooms. To date, the Apple Watch may have been of greatest interest to 40 year old males. Interestingly, 70% of cases of atrial fibrillation are among the 65+ population. Does Apple really want the 65+ population to buy an Apple watch?” Did it happen?

In the tech innovation world, a decade is both a long and short time.  In 2014, AARP’s Health Innovation @50+ sponsored a report, Challenging Innovators: Matching Offerings to the Needs of Older Adults.  It was published in June of 2014 in conjunction with a Venture Summit event run by Mary Furlong and Associates. This was exactly a decade prior to this year’s What’s Next Longevity Venture Summit. 

Refresh required.  Each year, the Technology for Aging Market Overview is revised in January of the new year.  This year, that revision is being published right after CES 2024, which featured multiple offerings of possible utility to older adults, especially those with physical limitations.  The purpose of the document, however, is to aggregate and review trends from 2023 that shape 2024, technology changes that matter, and offer, by category, a sampling of products, services, and sites of relevance to the older adult market.  As such, the report is intended for those businesses (for-profit, non-profit) and services that want and need to serve the older adult segment.

The show is over, the press dispersed, the awards won.   CES 2024 is over, with 135,000 attendees, and AI as the story of the show, and according to AARP, offering the promise of better aging and even helping to fix the caregiving crisis.  These assertions have been made before, of course. Consider 2020, right before the start of COVID-19. Or CES 2019, when Google Assistant was everywhere and today, when it appears to be ‘going down the tubes.’  In tech, nothing is forever.  CES can provide an opportunity to put a new face, new version, on products that appeared previously (see Nobi and Zibrio Advantage below.)  CES 2024 brought ten offerings of new tech for older adults into view.  And from the same show, here are 8 more: