Starkey Technologies is bringing serious smarts to its latest hearing aid, including language translation and the ability to monitor brain health.
The Livio AI is a receiver that sits either behind or in the ear and is said to be the company's best sounding hearing aid to date. That's apparently achieved with the help of its new Hearing Reality tech which provides an average 50% reduction in noisy environments and enhanced clarity of speech among other improvements.
Essential reading: Hearables are breathing new life into hearing aids
The iOS and Android-friendly device also uses geotagged memories (tagged using your phone's GPS) to detect when you are in a tagged location to automatically change hearing modes. So if you just get home, it'll optimise the aid for that environment.
In terms of added smarts, The Livio AI offers health and wellness tracking providing a combined health and brain score inside of the new companion app. It also includes sensors to track physical data with support for both Apple Health and Google Fit apps.
Other features include the ability to stream phone calls, music and it can even connect with devices like TVs and Amazon's Alexa smart assistant. There are more features on the way with the onboard inertial sensors said to offer the ability to detect when a user has fallen, which may prove a useful feature for elderly users.
While Starkey Technologies has largely made its name in the hearing aid space, it's certainly no stranger to connected tech. It teamed up with Bragi in 2017 to build a special custom edition of its Dash Pro smart earbuds. Clearly that collaboration has convinced Starkey to bring some of the same smarts like language translation to its own devices.
The Livio AI is now available in the US, but you'll need to find yourself a hearing professional to get kitted out with a pair.
How we test
By Michael Sawh
Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.
He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.
Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech.
Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.