From Broadcast To Personalized Listening: The Future Of Connectivity

Achin Bhowmik, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Engineering at Starkey and adjunct professor at Stanford.

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Watching a TV program at the gym or listening to a public speaker at an event are common experiences for many people, but they often mean dealing with a large amount of background noise. We all know that feeling of struggling to hear important communication in a crowded, public space. Whether it's an airport, theater, gym or conference center, we need to be connected with broadcast systems in every environment to hear relevant information.

The Audio Broadcasting Experience

Imagine a time when you've been waiting to hear information about your flight at the airport. You hear mumblings on the audio broadcast system but can't make out exactly what was said and have to walk to your gate to get accurate information.

This broader announcement is what happens when audio broadcasting is a one-lane experience. Audio broadcasts are only shared on one intercom across a room or building without personalization for the people who need the information.

Bluetooth technology has evolved to make the audio broadcast experience better in these environments, and it's been years in the making. Now, a new paradigm for personal audio broadcasting is redefining connectivity.

Redefining Connectivity

Auracast, a Bluetooth LE audio technology, enables one-to-many wireless audio delivery so that any number of receivers can join and share a streaming experience. These connections are easily discoverable and joinable, similar to a public Wi-Fi connection, meaning you and anyone else in the room can connect to the audio of a TV at a bar or a speaker for your specific gate in an airport.

Previously, Bluetooth devices were only capable of one-to-one connection that required a pairing process, which could be cumbersome in an environment you're only visiting or moving quickly through.

This was something the hearing industry saw as a benefit from the early stages. Finding a way to standardize wireless audio delivery is in our nature, and accessibility is essential for people with hearing loss. However, these benefits go far beyond that and will likely be adopted more widely across the globe in the coming years.

The Benefits Of Auracast

These advancements in Bluetooth audio streaming open the door for those wearing compatible devices to listen to audio streams in their vicinity with a simple tap on their phone or device. It's groundbreaking connectivity that provides efficiency and is applicable in many real-world situations.

For leaders presenting at a conference, the audience can connect and hear them more clearly. In a convention center with business associates who speak different languages, public audio broadcasts can facilitate translation services, allowing people to connect to their preferred languages.

This evolving innovation is setting a new standard for seamless, future-ready connectivity in hearing technology, and it's something that everyone should be excited about. Audio features become personalized instead of universal, allowing each person to choose what works for them. Users can stream directly to their hearing devices, start and stop the broadcast and adjust the streaming or microphone volume. The direct-to-ear feature also means clearer speech, better clarity, less background noise and a consistent volume.

Scaling This Type Of Audio Broadcasting​

Today, the biggest drawback in this technology is that not all devices offer it on both ends. To connect to an Auracast broadcast, you must have compatible devices to select the broadcast (typically, a smartphone) and the receiver of the broadcast (typically, a hearing aid or earbud).

The technology has been created to be scalable, so it's only a matter of time before more people are able to access it. Some modern hearing aids are already beginning to adopt this technology, as are many smartphones and popular earbuds.

We're entering an era in which hearing experiences become more personalized. Just as smartphones transformed how we access internet information, this emerging wireless audio ecosystem will transform how we access spoken communication. The ability to connect directly to the sounds, voices and information most relevant to us will reshape accessibility, communication and human interaction in public spaces for decades to come.

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