Hearing aid maker Starkey Hearing Technologies has introduced Livio AI – the first device to track physical activity and cognitive health. Livio AI hearing aid tracks brain and body health, has a natural user interface with tap control, language translation and advanced environmental detection using integrated sensors and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The new Hearing Reality technology provides as much as 50 per cent reduction in noisy environments, significant reduced listening effort, and newly enhanced clarity of speech, while the use of AI and integrated sensors enabled it to optimise the hearing experience. "What makes today a pivotal moment in the hearing industry, is that with Livio AI, we have transformed a single-use device into the world's first multi-purpose hearing aid, a Healthable with integrated sensors and artificial intelligence. Livio AI is so much more than just a hearing aid, it is a gateway to better health and wellness," Starkey Hearing Technologies President Brandon Sawalich said.

Achin Bhowmik discusses how Starkey's Livio AI came to market and what it means for the future of amplification devices. All my life, I've been passionate about developing perceptual computing technologies, such as sensors and artificial intelligence. My focus at Intel was to use these technologies to make more intelligent machines. That was an incredible time in my career as the world is getting smarter and there is so much to explore and invent. But Starkey CEO, Mr Austin came to me and asked, "Do you want to use the same advanced technologies, but instead of focusing on making more intelligent machines, help people perceive and understand the world better?"

The'world's first' AI-powered hearing aid connects to your smartphone and can translate speech into 27 different languages, say its creators. Experts claim to have mastered near-real time translation of Arabic, Japanese and French, among others, by listening for the foreign language and relaying it to the phone. The device is akin to the fictitious alien Babel fish that performs instant translations in comedy science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Creators Starkeys claim the technology reduces noisy environments by 50 per cent, while artificial intelligence optimises the hearing experience and its translation is compatible to Google Translate in terms of accuracy. The Livio AI, which is now on sale in the UK and costs £3,000 ($3,900), also has brain tracking technology and Alexa connectivity, and interfaces with the mobile app, Thrive Hearing.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my website and a glimpse at what keeps my world ticking. Today I am thrilled to announce the launch of our new healthable hearing technology, Livio AI. Innovation is the cornerstone of what we've achieved at Starkey Hearing Technologies over the past five decades. The Starkey Hearing Technologies team makes this breakthrough innovation possible by developing world-leading technology to help thousands hear better. With our new product launch, I thought it was the perfect time to share how artificial intelligence is disrupting the hearing aid industry. Today, Starkey Hearing Technologies launched Livio AI, the world's first hearing aid with artificial intelligence and integrated sensors.

Starkey Hearing Technologies, Eden Prairie, Minn, has offered a teaser video of the company's Livio AI hearing aid, what it reports to be the world's first hearing aid with sensors and artificial intelligence. The official launch of Livio AI is on August 27. As reported in The Hearing Review, the company announced at its 2018 Innovations Expo that it would be bringing to market the world's first hearing aid with inertial sensors that can provide information for physical activity tracking. Along with physical fitness applications (like the Dash Pro tailored by Starkey), these sensors may also be used for balance management and the detection of falls--a massive $67.7 billion public health problem by 2020 which is currently responsible for an older adult being admitted to a US emergency room every 13 seconds. At the 2018 Innovations Expo, Starkey CTO and Executive VP of Engineering Achin Bhowmik--who had previously served as VP of Perceptual Computing at Intel--also spoke about how, in the future, artificial intelligence (AI) would be used in hearing aids for natural responses to voice commands, and eventually be able to provide advanced capabilities like real-time language translation.