Have you ever been in a noisy place when you are unable to hear your friends talking to you even though they are right beside you? Just imagine having this problem all the time, and you have a small idea of what it’s like to have hearing loss. But thanks to a new technological advance, an app can now send a push notification to the user’s phone to let them know when important sounds are detected.

Google Announces a New Feature on Android

It was recently announced by Google that there’s an accessibility feature coming on Android called Sound Notifications. This provides you with alerts about critical sounds close to you.  Not only can it send push notifications, but it can send flashes from the camera’s phone and a vibration.

As an Audiologist, I am very excited about this new feature and what it can mean for my patients. So many times I have had patients who were injured or who missed important alerts due to being unable to hear. Here are some other benefits that this type of technology can provide.

Keeping You Safe

This is one step in the right direction to helping keep those who are hard of hearing safe in emergency situations. Hopefully, this will show the need for more innovations. Perhaps, in the not so distant future, other technologies, including fire alarms for those who are hard of hearing. Therefore, they won’t have to worry about relying on other people to let them know when there is danger.

An app, called Smoke Detective, is another technology that those who are hard of hearing might like. This app allows your smartphone’s camera to detect the smoke that is caused by a fire. It then sounds a visible and audible alarm when smoke is detected.

The Hight of Convenience

Being able to connect your accessories and phone to your hearing devices can allow you to stream music or movies right to your hearing aids. Being able to read the Closed Captioning on television or movies is helpful, but there’s nothing like being able to hear the music and the sounds that are also in a movie or a TV show.

Better Communication

Most of the hearing aids available today let you adjust to just about any setting and let you talk with your friends and family. This can help you feel less isolated and lonely. When you are in a restaurant with your friends and family, you want to be able to hear what they are saying and participate in the discussion. The right hearing aid can help you adjust the settings based on the environment in which are you.

If you are interested in knowing more about hooking your hearing aids up to your smartphone or you concerned about hearing loss, contact us today. We are always glad to answer your questions and let you know what we can do for you. Let us help you have a better tomorrow. It can make a whole world of difference for you and for your family when you hear everything around you.

 

 

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Dr. Kelly McElligott, Au.D.

Dr. Kelly McElligott is a dedicated clinical audiologist based at our Parkwest and Tellico Village practices. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, she started her career in a private practice, vestibular evaluations, pediatrics, newborn hearing screenings, and adult diagnostics before gracing us all with her talents here at PHC. Dr. McElligott’s motivation comes from helping her patients to improve their communication between family members, which is a truly heartwarming feeling for her.