Starkey’s new Livio Edge AI hearing aid, previewed at Starkey Hearing Innovation Expo 2020 in Las Vegas, is the first custom in-ear hearing aid to power 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity with an integrated lithium-ion rechargeable battery. Featuring new smartphone apps, a new remote Table Mic accessory, and flexible audio streaming from Apple, Samsung, and Google Pixel phones, the new hearing aids are scheduled to start shipping to U.S. customers in February.

Livio AI in a custom in-ear form factor

Like the popular Starkey Livio AI receiver-in-the-canal (RIC) hearing aids, new Livio Edge AI custom devices have integrated biosensors that work with your smartphone to enable features including fitness tracking, with activity updates such as your step count and time spent exercises; cognitive activity tracking measuring your social engagement and “active listening” time; real-time in-ear translation of 27 languages; voice-to-text transcription; and fall detection with automatic alerts to remote caregivers.

New Livio AI features

The new hearing aids also include new, previously unavailable features, including:

• Voice-activated commands and reminders - provides voice access to Siri on your phone as well as in-ear and on-screen notifications for tasks like taking medications.
• “Edge Mode” - on-demand, automatic, active tuning to adjust to challenging listening environments with a double finger-tap.
• In-ear rechargeability - the first rechargeable custom, in-ear hearing aid featuring 2.4 GHz wireless streaming, with 23 hours of battery life for hearing and four hours of streaming on a fast 3.5-hour charge.

Smartphone Apps

The new Livio Edge AI hearing aids also come with new and improved smartphone apps:

• Thrive App — Starkey’s popular hearing aid control and health-monitoring app has been improved with a new, more intuitive streamlined user interface. The app takes real-time data from sensors in the hearing aids to monitor and measure steps, exercise time, social engagement and other health-related information.

• Thrive Care App — provides a wireless web-based connection to caregivers, enabling them to remotely monitor the same health and physical activity measures available to the wearer.

• Balance Builder App — supplements the fall detection and alert capability in Livio AI and Livio Edge AI hearing aid by leading the wearer through at-home exercises designed to improve balance, stability, strength and gait. The app monitors the user’s movements detected from sensors in the hearing aids, providing feedback for constant improvement.

Table Mic remote microphone

The new Table Mic is a compact set of remote microphones that can automatically pick up users’ voices around a conference table and wirelessly transmit stream to the new hearing aids while suppressing unwanted environmental sounds.