Wearable assistive tech device for people with hearing impairments wins prestigious innovation award

At the CES 2020 Best of Innovation Awards, OrCam Hear, an AI-driven assistive technology device that combines lip reading with simultaneous voice source separation, has won an award in the ‘Accessibility’ category.

Worn like a necklace, the wearable, hands-free product is the size of a finger and gives users a smart hearing aid solution.

Designed by OrCam Technologies, OrCam Hear empowers hearing impairment by identifying the person speaking to the device wearer – from among multiple speakers – and isolating the voice while relaying the filtered speech to Bluetooth hearing aids in real time. OrCam Hear does not need to connect to Wi-Fi or a smartphone, making the device more accessible to individuals.

Cleverly, the device works with body gestures so users can select the person they want to hear and switches between speakers by intuitively responding to the repositioning of the OrCam Hear wearer. This gives people with hearing impairments more audio freedom and choice.

In addition, the wearable device incorporates camera modules and microphone sets that allow the user to receive clear and isolated voices, even among crowds, removing the issue of muddled voices that can occur in traditional hearing aids.

Although the hearing device is currently not available, OrCam Technologies has confirmed OrCam Hear is due to launch soon.