A Dutch company has created a most unique item — combining eye glasses and hearing aids. The company Varibel has created a set of eyeglass with frames that house rechargeable batteries at the ends of the arms of the glasses. So the batteries are hidden behind the ears. To recharge, you need only to insert the arms into the unique recharging stand, reducing the big hassle of replacing old batteries.
The even more unique aspect of the glasses is how the integrated system picks-up sound and delivers it to the user. In each arm of the glasses are four microphones. Ear buds then connect to that frame using a magnetic clasp. And the microphones create a directional sensitivity, which means that sounds coming from the direction of the wearer’s gaze are then amplified, while sounds from the ambient surroundings are then dampened. In contrast, normal hearing aids simply intensify sound from any and all directions.
Sounds to us like an amazing idea. There certainly could be some problems with the uni-directional nature (not hearing someone saying your name from behind, etc..). Nevertheless the hidden nature of the hearing aids sounds like a wonderful idea.
