The words "Hearing Aid" and "cool" usually don't go together. But one company hopes to change your opinion on that.
Starkey Hearing Technologies brought the Livio Ai to the TechCrunch Disrupt technology conference. It offers state-of-the-art sound quality and can stream phone calls, TV or music directly into someone's ears.
"What hearing loss often means is social isolation," says Dr. Dave Fabry, the Chief Innovation Officer of the company. So the hearing aid not only has a wireless mic that allows the user to hear someone from across the room. The mic can also track how many hours the wearer spends communicating with people.
The hearing aid is aimed at wearers who may need assistance. It also has sensors to detect if the wearer falls down and can contact emergency services. GPS can track down a lost hearing aid and it can even translate foreign languages spoken to the wearer into English messages sent to their cell phone. The hearing aid is for sale now.