Announcements

Aware Defense, a division of Aware Custom Biometric Wearables, was awarded a five-year sole-source contract by the Naval Air Systems Command's Aircrew Systems Program Office to supply custom hearing protection for Naval Aviation personnel. The contract was announced September 14. It makes the company the Navy's exclusive source for 3D ear scanning, manufacturing of custom hearing protection and…

A study conducted in northern Tanzania has reported that nearly one in four adults with high blood pressure had sensorineural hearing loss, adding to a body of research examining possible links between hypertension and hearing. The findings were published in the journal Eye & ENT Research on May 27, 2026. Researchers at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre screened 201 adults with hypertension,…

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…

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…

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), a UK hearing loss charity, has launched a safe-listening campaign called "Don't Lose the Music" following new research on hearing symptoms among young adults who attend loud music events. The campaign launched August 25, ahead of the UK's August holiday weekend. According to RNID's research, 83% of Gen Z adults surveyed reported ringing,…