Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Expanding Borders

2016; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 69; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/01.hj.0000484543.52430.5d

2333-6218

Gina Shaw,

Figure: Illustration Source/ Christopher ZacharowFor months, evidence has been mounting that consumer electronics behemoth Samsung is preparing to take a giant leap into the audio amplification pool. In late 2015, the company applied for a South Korean trademark for the term “Earcle,” referring several times to hearing aids in the description of related products, with several references to hearing aids in its related product description. And on December 21, 2015, a declaration for a device with model number SM-R790 was entered in the Bluetooth Special Interest Group's (SIG) database; the design description reads: “Samsung Bluetooth Hearing Aid.” Will Samsung's new device truly be a hearing aid, or instead a personal sound amplification product (PSAP) or hearable? The company has been publicly cagey about its plans, but filings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other documents obtained by several technology reporters, including Gina Smith at ANewDomain, hint that their plans include both. The “Samsung Earcle” will apparently be marketed as a PSAP, a hearing device designed to work with the company's successful Samsung Galaxy smartphones. The user manual filed with the FCC notes the following: “The Earcle is a personal sound amplification product (PSAP) to help you hear better. The Earcle amplifies the sound you hear and can also be used as a Bluetooth headphone. If you connect the Earcle to a mobile device via Bluetooth, you can answer calls and play music from the connected device. If you connect the Earcle to a mobile device via the Samsung Earcle app installed, you can configure the Earcle's sound settings. Do not use the Earcle to compensate for hearing impairments. The Earcle is intended to supplement what you hear by amplifying ambient sound and does not compensate for hearing loss or hearing difficulty. If you have a hearing impairment, consult a doctor or audiologist for treatment.” This device seems comparable with hearable solutions like the Bragi Dash and others that are in the works from Apple and Google. But is there a hearing aid in the works as well? IS IT OR ISN'T IT A HEARING AID? It's unclear if the Earcle is the same device as the SM-R790. Samsung submitted certification test reports to the FCC in March 2015 for what it called a “Bluetooth Low Energy Hearing Aid,” but supporting documents found in the FCC ID application database for this device, given the model number EO-MG925, are for the Earcle.Figure: Kenneth Smith, PhD“Samsung's device is being described by people that are familiar with the product as a PSAP; however, it's also being described as a hearing aid, and nobody seems to know exactly what their offerings will ultimately be,” said Kenneth Smith, PhD, vice president and director of operations for the Hearing Center of Castro Valley in California, and former president of the Academy of Dispensing Audiologists. “I've been told by a Samsung engineer that the issue is boiling down to figuring out what their distribution scheme is going to be, and whether or not to go through professional channels. But they're ready to go with the product, or products.” Dr. Smith, who actively engages in new technology and techniques for effective patient care, will be co-chairing a special session on PSAPs at the American Academy of Audiology meeting in Austin, TX, in June 2016. “We've invited everybody from PSAP manufacturers to people who think PSAPs are the worst thing in the world,” he noted. That includes Samsung—but as this article went to press, Samsung had yet to respond to the PSAP invitation, and Dr. Smith said they were unwilling to attend the overarching AAA meeting. Nonetheless, most, if not all, of the other PSAP manufacturers will be represented. AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE Audiologists expressed curiosity and caution about what Samsung may be bringing to the table.Figure: Karen Jacobs, AuD“With the Earcle, I like that there will be an Android interface,” said Karen Jacobs, AuD, founder of AVA Hearing Center in Grand Rapids, MI. “The ability to make adjustments in real world living situations, allowing for personal listening preferences for volume and timbre is great. I would love to see advanced signal processors, more intuitive auto-adaptation, and maybe improving applications for the phone to serve as an assistive listening device.” There is definitely a place for PSAPs in the market, stressed Dr. Jacobs. But she noted that one reason so many surveys show patient satisfaction with these devices is that they are very selective in using them. “They may be good for TV, but they're horrible in a restaurant,” she cited. “We still have patients dissatisfied with their amplifiers in those situations and putting them in a drawer and not wearing them in complex listening situations.” For true hearing aids, she praised the adaptability and adjustability of phone interfaces. “You get better logs, showing the patient's situational diversity and what they did with their volume in those settings, so we can adjust the programming more precisely and better counsel the patients as we adapt their hearing aids to meet their particular needs. But Samsung is an electronics company—while there's nothing wrong with a little competition for the hearing aid manufacturers, I'm not sure they can produce a true hearing aid.” STILL TOO LITTLE TO SPECULATE Most major hearing aid manufacturers contacted by The Hearing Journal on these potential Samsung products chose to withhold comment, considering the little information available in the public domain about the company's plans. “Given Samsung's market position is still speculative at the moment, ReSound would like to wait to offer a comment when Samsung's plans are more formalized,” said a company spokesperson.Figure: Tim Trine, PhDBut Starkey's chief technical officer, Tim Trine, PhD, was at least willing to speculate. “People in the industry have been aware for at least 10 years that Samsung is working on something, they've been at scientific meetings, around for years, and everybody's waiting each year to see if they will launch,” he said. “We're still in the same position, although the filing with the FCC makes it look as if it's a little more real now.” Dr. Trine suggested that the imminence of a Samsung hearing device—be it a PSAP, a hearing aid, or both—puts pressure on Google, because they haven't been as actively engaged in creating hearing aid solutions for their Android platform as Apple has for its iOS platform. It also puts what he calls a “welcome pressure” on the Bluetooth SIG's hearing aid working group. “We've all been participating in this group to provide an audio extension to Bluetooth especially optimized for hearing aid use, but 2018 is the best-case scenario for products to be supported on that. The closer we can get to a standardized approach, the better it will be for the consumer. The pace of development has been healthy, but perhaps a good device from Samsung could apply further pressure. Of course, everybody could look at it and say that's not a great solution—the quality still remains to be seen.” Will the “Earcle,” or a true hearing aid from Samsung, represent competition for Starkey's newer products, like its iPhone-compatible Halo 2? “It's simply not clear,” Dr. Trine said. “If they have a hearing aid going through traditional delivery channels, then yes, it will be a direct competitor. But if they're only releasing a PSAP, one of the things we've found through market research is that a lot of the people who get a PSAP eventually do seek hearing aids. They're just much earlier in their journey of hearing loss. More competition in that part of the market might be a very positive thing.” But Dr. Trine said he agreed with Dr. Jacobs that a consumer electronics company like Samsung is not necessarily prepared to offer a true hearing aid. “I don't think they have an understanding of the market, or of people with hearing loss. That's the biggest gap. People with hearing loss are best served by seeking hearing health care professionals. Over the years, many companies have tried to penetrate the hearing aid market by treating it like a consumer electronics product, and they've failed miserably.” Have they been as big as a Samsung? “Probably not,” he conceded. “But it remains to be seen what their strategy is.” EXCITING POTENTIALS OF NEW TECHNOLOGYFigure: D'Anne Rudden, AuDDespite a level of skepticism, there is definitely some excitement among audiologists to see what Samsung will offer. “The landscape in our industry is changing at an exponentially rapid pace, and it's exciting to see what's on the horizon all across the industry,” said D'Anne Rudden, AuD, of Longmont Hearing & Tinnitus Center in Longmont, CO. “What I want to see from this product most would be ease of use. Our job is to help people be as successful as they possibly can be with hearing technology, so ease of operation and ease of connection is paramount. People are more active than they've ever been, so I'm hoping to see technology that will not be obtrusive and will allow them to function more seamlessly.” Could the involvement of popular consumer companies like Samsung help overcome the natural resistance many audiologists see among people who don't want to concede the need for hearing aids? “As a profession, we want people to look at hearing technology as a great and marvelous thing rather than something to be resisted,” Dr. Rudden noted. “Perception is a huge obstacle that we have had to overcome in the past. As more technologies become available and there is a wider reach, it only gets better for everyone involved.” But technology alone won't solve the communication issues faced by individuals with hearing loss. “This is a real opportunity for audiologists to provide those pieces that we know technology alone, even the very best technology, will not necessarily overcome. Of course, we have to prepare and be adaptable, but I think we're in a really unique position to bring our expertise and innovation to an even greater number of people,” said Dr. Rudden. “Fear is not an option when it comes to the future. I have absolute confidence in my skills and those of my colleagues to marry whatever technology comes along—from Samsung or anyone else—with quality patient care and the other pieces of the puzzle that patients may not even realize they need to be successful.”