NewSound Unveils AI-Driven OTC Hearing Aids

NewSound has launched its first truly artificial intelligence (AI)-driven over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid, powered by Femtosense’s AI Acceleration.

“NewSound has consistently focused on the application of AI technology in OTC hearing aids for years,” NewSound Founder David Yu said. “While some players in the industry prioritize cutting-edge performance, NewSound takes a balanced approach by not only advancing technology but also ensuring product affordability and consumer accessibility. By partnering with Femtosense, we can now bring these hearing aids to market, offering a valuable option for those struggling with hearing loss.”

Through its collaboration with the U.S.-based AI developer Femtosense, NewSound integrated Femtosense’s Clara AI Speech Enhancement onboard its products. Clara AI is a deep neural network that separates speech from background noise to deliver improved speech quality and comprehension. Clara AI runs all-day on Femtosense’s SPU-001 AI inference accelerator with sub-mW power consumption, achieved through 27x quantization and pruning compression while preserving performance. With Clara AI, speech from any direction is maintained, while background noise is suppressed by 7-13 dB in a broad range of different environments.

“People with hearing loss experience significant challenges understanding speech in noisy environments,” stated Scott Reid, co-founder and head of Machine Learning, Femtosense. “NewSound’s OTC hearing aids will be the first in their category to deploy AI speech denoising to tackle this issue all day on a single charge. These products showcase our thesis that compressing neural networks enables customers to deliver real AI into products that improve people’s lives. We are excited to make this technology accessible and affordable to all.”

“As an audiologist and industry expert with over 30 years of experience, I am thrilled to see the introduction of true AI noise-cancelling technology in OTC hearing aids,” said Dan Thomas, vice president of Operations at Nano Hearing Aids. “By leveraging artificial intelligence, these hearing aids can now differentiate between background noise and speech, providing users with unprecedented ease of listening in noise. This is a significant advancement in making OTC hearing aids more effective and accessible to those with hearing loss.”

For more than two decades, NewSound has helped people hear better. As an OEM and ODM manufacturer, the company invests over 10% of its annual revenue into R&D, prioritizing user-centric innovation. With a presence in more than 80 countries, NewSound redefines accessibility and quality in audiology technology.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Femtosense pioneers sparsity-exploiting AI inference accelerators and AI algorithms, and delivers embedded AI solutions with low-latency operation and high energy efficiency. Their technology takes inspiration from the principles of neuromorphic computing concepts of sparsity to empower intelligence in everyday devices. From wearables and household appliances to robotics and vehicles, Femtosense brings the power of AI to everyday devices.