Reinventing the Hearing Aid In 2018, Starkey launched Livio AI as the industry’s first hearing device to use embedded sensors and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reinvent the hearing aid and redefine expectations regarding modern hearing aid performance. This device serves the fundamental need of ensuring outstanding speech intelligibility and sound quality in quiet and noisy listening environments, while also enabling hearing aid users to monitor physical activity such as steps, exercise, and standing throughout the day. It even monitors social engagement, including metrics on usage, other talkers, and listening environments. Results are displayed with our Thrive smartphone application designed to help people “hear better and live better” by focusing on conditions with high comorbidity to hearing loss, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, risk of stroke, and diabetes. By motivating hearing aid users to be physically active and socially engaged, Starkey is transitioning hearing aids from single purpose devices into multi-purpose, multi-function ones that provide a gateway to overall health and well-being. Livio AI was the first hearing aid to incorporate sensors capable of detecting falls and providing text alerts with physical location to trusted contacts via text message. Even mild hearing loss increases the risk of falls threefold – this feature provides peace of mind for caregivers and family members so their loved ones can remain safe and live independently in their own home, if they so choose. In 2019, we expanded Livio AI features to include real-time translation, transcription, and voice commands that focused on “ease of use” for hearing aid users. These are not “your grandmother’s
hearing aids.” With multifunctional utility, our devices can stream phone calls, podcasts, navigation instructions, and music directly from iPhones and an increasingly wide array of Android phones through a simple user interface. By focusing on form and function, we started to hear from patients that instead of being stigmatized by hearing loss and hearing aids, their family and friends began to think that their hearing aids were actually “cool.” In 2020, Starkey continued the hearing aid revolution with the introduction of Livio Edge AI with “Edge Mode,” which put the power of Artificial Intelligence at the hearing aid user’s fingertips. In often challenging quiet or noisy listening environments, a simple tap or touch on the hearing aid initiates an instantaneous acoustic optimization for speech audibility unique to that listening environment. We launched this newest feature in January 2020 with optimism and enthusiasm for the year ahead. COVID-19 Changes Everything Six weeks after the launch of Livio Edge AI, the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in North America. Older individuals were among those most vulnerable to the virus, and as a result, were fearful about visiting clinics and retail shops for hearing health care. Although hearing loss may occur at any age, first-time hearing aid users’ average age is approximately 70 years old. As a result, the second quarter of 2020 saw business decline by more than 80%. This reduction was devast at ing to many audiologists and hearing instrument specialists; many small business owners shuttered their offices to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Under Starkey President and CEO Brandon Sawalich and the Executive Team, Starkey initially focused on providing
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Dave Fabry
Bill Austin speaking to employees
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