Nuance Audio, EssilorLuxottica's hearing glasses arrive in Italy

A good year has passed since EssilorLuxottica's smart glasses with acoustic technologies made their first public appearance, in prototype form, on the stage of the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. Today, Nuance Audio was officially presented in Italy, during an event held in the company's showroom in Milan, and opens a new horizon in the field of wearable devices, starting from the concept of a device that is absolutely indistinguishable from a normal pair of glasses but capable of integrating a highly advanced hearing system.

English: The glasses were conceived, designed and developed over several years of work (also with the support of specialized third parties) in the laboratories of the Agordo brand and respond to a well-defined and widespread medical need, measurable and measured, which manifests itself daily in common situations, such as a lunch with friends in particularly crowded restaurants, noisy work environments and open spaces or even simply watching TV in the living room of one's home. Hearing loss, this is the reference scenario, is suffered by 1.6 billion people in the world to varying degrees, with 1.2 billion individuals (between 6 and 7 million in Italy) who complain of mild to moderate hearing loss. The Nuance Audio, this is the "institutional" promise of EssilorLuxottica, will allow to remove the stigma traditionally associated with hearing aids, proposing itself to a large segment of the population in the form of a medical device with the appearance of a fashion accessory that draws on the company's decades of experience in the field of smart glasses. The basic idea, supported by the positive opinion of experts (doctors and opticians first and foremost), is therefore to bring to the benefit of consumers with mild or moderate hearing defects a product that has the characteristics to overcome the psychological barriers (related to comfort, aesthetics and social stigma) that hinder the adoption of traditional hearing aids.

Stefano Genco, Global Head of Super Audio & Nuance Audio, explained the main technical features of the glasses, highlighting how the acoustic device is effectively invisible as it is completely integrated into the frame of the glasses and combines with a series of directional microphones (also invisible to the eye) that have the task of collecting and amplifying the sound and transferring it to the mini speakers to help the user understand speech and noise. Also included as standard are “Transitions” ophthalmic lenses, which change gradation depending on the light, day or night, making the glasses usable in any context and at any time of the day. Battery life is confirmed at around 8 hours of continuous operation in outdoor environments, while the degree of waterproofness meets the X4 certification: the Nuance Audio, to be clear, resist rain or splashes but cannot be put under water.

How do you control the system that makes these glasses truly smart? The main channel is the dedicated app to download on your smartphone (IOs or Android), from which you can set your profile and the operating parameters of the glasses, calibrating the listening mode (frontal or 360 degrees) and the audio amplification according to your needs and adjusting the background noise level. The same options can be activated via compatible digital devices such as the Apple Watch or a special remote control supplied separately and designed for the elderly or those less “addicted” to technology, while switching between the two audio configurations and adjusting the amplification volume can also be adjusted directly from the glasses with a simple tap on the frame.

The ease of use and the wearability of the glasses (less than 1% of active customers complain about this parameter), as explained by the manager of Luxottica, directly involved, are the immediately recognizable pluses of Nuance Audio, while the typical user is configured as a person of about 60 years old, curious on a technological level and eager to improve their quality of life, aware of their hearing defect but not willing to address the problem with a traditional solution. We are therefore not talking about a product off the shelf tout court, as explained by the commercial partners of EssilorLuxottica, but of a solution that derives from a diagnostic analysis and meets a specific need, combining in a single device the functions of vision correction and hearing support.