{"id":3270,"date":"2026-07-10T22:18:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=3270"},"modified":"2026-07-10T22:18:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T17:18:16","slug":"sony-could-help-make-hearing-aids-as-accessible-as-contact-lenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=3270","title":{"rendered":"Sony could help make hearing aids as accessible as contact lenses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-adroot=\"true\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inputmag.com\/gaming\/sony-inzone-h3-h7-h9-gaming-headsets-m3-m9-monitors\" class=\"T3D\">Sony<\/a> and WS Audiology are looking to tackle this longstanding stigma of wearing hearing aids by teaming up to make over-the-counter, self-fitting versions.<\/p>\n<p>The partnership combines Sony\u2019s decades of consumer and audio product experience with WS Audiology\u2019s hearing aid tech and expertise. The two companies are looking to make \u201ctop-of-the-line\u201d hearing aids that people can get their hands on more easily.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M LRM\">\n<p><figcaption class=\"TrI\">A well-designed OTC hearing aid could blend in with a wireless earbuds look.<cite class=\"hW6\">Sony \/ YouTube<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The first product will be under the Sony brand and will first come to the U.S. market, since the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/news-events\/press-announcements\/fda-finalizes-historic-rule-enabling-access-over-counter-hearing-aids-millions-americans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"T3D\">Food and Drug Administration<\/a> recently ruled that hearing aids could be sold as an over-the-counter product without prescription. This ruling goes into effect in October 2022. <\/p>\n<p><u>Improving accessibility \u2014<\/u> There aren\u2019t many details on the actual product yet, but we\u2019re already expecting major implications on the hearing aids market. This could amount to a game-changing product that makes hearing aids more accessible, in terms of affordability and availability.<\/p>\n<p>On top of what the product could do, Sony and WS Audiology are hoping that their upcoming hearing aids could address the stigma behind using hearing aids. In the announcement video, Osamu Hajimoto, deputy president of Sony\u2019s New Business &amp; Technology Development Group, said the company wants to design a hearing aid product that people can pick up and use as naturally as contact lenses.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M LRM\">\n<p><figcaption class=\"TrI\">A better-designed hearing aid could be the next step in de-stigmatizing.<cite class=\"hW6\">Sony \/ YouTube<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><u>Future of hearing aids \u2014<\/u> Combining Sony\u2019s design and brand name with WS Audiology\u2019s know-how, we\u2019re expecting a competent hearing aid that also has an attractive design like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inputmag.com\/reviews\/sony-linkbuds-s-review-impressive-active-noise-cancellation\" class=\"T3D\">Sony\u2019s LinkBuds S<\/a>. It\u2019s likely that we\u2019ll get hearing aids that can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inputmag.com\/tech\/signia-new-hearing-aids-are-disguised-as-wireless-buds\" class=\"T3D\">blend in<\/a> just like wireless earbuds, which everyone has in their ears nowadays anyways.<\/p>\n<p>Even though the first product is limited to a U.S. launch, it\u2019s a no-brainer for the partnership to expand the reach if it does well. With the FDA ruling, Sony likely won\u2019t be the only one offering OTC hearing aids, but we sure have high hopes for this one.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"fX2 rhF jIS\"\/><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sony and WS Audiology are looking to tackle this longstanding stigma of wearing hearing aids by teaming up to make over-the-counter, self-fitting versions. The partnership combines Sony\u2019s decades of consumer and audio product experience with WS Audiology\u2019s hearing aid tech and expertise. The two companies are looking to make \u201ctop-of-the-line\u201d hearing aids that people can&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2022\/9\/14\/4d195972-df08-4d42-bdae-e685582a37b7-screen-shot-2022-09-14-at-30616-pm.jpg?w=1200&h=630&fit=crop&crop=faces&fm=jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}