Announcements

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco reported that how well an adult cochlear implant recipient performs in the first month after activation, along with how much they use the device, may help predict their hearing outcomes a year later. One of the most difficult questions in cochlear implant care comes before surgery, when patients wonder how well they will hear a year out.…

South Korea's Supreme Court ruled on September 3, 2026, that movie theaters' failure to provide subtitles and audio descriptions for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or have low vision counts as a form of disability discrimination. The ruling overturned a lower-court decision that had strictly limited how many screenings and how many theaters were required to provide these…

Signia, part of WS Audiology, has introduced Signia MaX, short for Multi-adaptive Xperience, a new flagship hearing aid platform. It was announced August 24 and became available the same day in the United States, Germany, and the Nordic countries, with most remaining markets to follow later in 2026. MaX replaces Signia IX at the top of the company's range. According to Signia, the platform uses…

Phonak has introduced EON, their next-generation hearing aid platform, built around a newly developed processing chip the company calls "HYPERSONIC." The new platform was announced August 24 and is now available for order through licensed hearing care professionals in the United States with Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other markets to follow in September. According to…

An observational study suggests that people with primary subjective tinnitus were more likely to have low levels of vitamin D than individuals without tinnitus. The findings were published in Frontiers in Neurology in January 2026. The study compared 350 patients with primary subjective tinnitus against 347 participants without tinnitus. All participants underwent an ear, nose, and throat…

The Speech Accessibility Project is recruiting adults with any degree of hearing loss to participate in a research study aimed at improving voice recognition technology for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. The project is supported by Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Participants will record speech samples and answer questions online at their own pace, using a personal computer or…

A research team at UMass Amherst is recruiting adults to share their opinions on over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. Participants will receive $100 for one 1-hour session over Zoom. Who can participate: Adults ages 40 and older who fall into any of these categories: Currently use hearing aids (prescription or OTC) or other assistive listening devices Are interested in trying hearing aids for the…

A research team is recruiting adults age 18 and older who have hearing loss and use voice calls with captions to take part in a study on captioned telephone services. The research is funded by the Federal Communications Commission and conducted by MITRE, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Gallaudet University. Participants will complete four brief captioned phone conversations with a research…

A large population-based study has found an association between long-term air pollution exposure and higher odds of experiencing tinnitus, with the strongest effect among people who also have a higher genetic susceptibility to the condition. The study was published in 2026 in the Journal of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Researchers analyzed data from 79,277 adults in the UK Biobank who had…

Legato, a hearing technology startup founded in 2024, has come out of stealth with $12 million in funding and a first look at its debut product, Legato Frames, a pair of glasses that build hearing-assistance technology into the arms of the eyewear rather than using a separate earpiece. The funding round was led by Neotribe Ventures, with participation from Listen and Village Global. The…