What Is Auracast? Bluetooth Audio for Hearing Aids & Earbuds

What is Auracast, and why does it matter for hearing aids, earbuds, cochlear implants, and public venues?

In this Friday Audiogram, Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS speaks with Mikey Shaffer, Vice President of North American Sales at Listen Technologies, about how Auracast broadcast audio is changing the future of assistive listening. Mikey explains how Auracast works through Bluetooth Low Energy, why it is often described as “Wi-Fi for audio,” and how it allows people to stream sound directly to compatible hearing aids, earbuds, phones, and cochlear implants without traditional one-to-one pairing.

This clip also explores why Auracast could improve listening access in restaurants, airports, stadiums, arenas, houses of worship, higher education, performing arts centers, and other noisy public spaces. For people with hearing loss and for those with normal hearing who struggle in background noise, Auracast represents a major step forward in accessibility, connectivity, and community-based hearing healthcare. 

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Transcript

What Auracast Is And Why

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS 0:00

This is the Friday Audiogram. Let's go. What is Oracast and why should people care?

Mikey Shaffer 0:08

That is a very big question. So, Oracast is a new protocol within Bluetooth Low Energy, which is the most current version of Bluetooth Classic. We know Bluetooth Classic, we all know it. We love it. We still use it today. It is how we replace a chord in our life. It is a one-to-one pairing so that we can stream our phone calls and our audio books and our music, right? We connect to a speaker, and that may run through our phone or our hearing aid, but it's one-to-one. It's personal. And that is still very, very useful. It's going nowhere. But for folks who wanted to use it for assistive listening, it didn't cut it, right? It's a one-to-one pairing. It's not a broadcast to everyone in range. It would drain the battery life on a hearing aid. And in live scenarios, not phone calls or streamed audio, it could create extra latency that could make that experience uncomfortable to listen to. And so Oracast, you know, folks knew that. Hearing aid manufacturers know that. We knew that. The public knew that that was not the perfect fit, but that they wanted it to be. And so what Oracast gives us is the ability to broadcast that audio over Bluetooth. Think of it as Wi-Fi for audio in a way. There's no pairing. It's simply audio that is available. And if you have a device that can connect directly to it, you can connect and stream that audio directly to your phone, your earbud, your hearing aid, your cochlear implant. So it is truly groundbreaking and it's changing the game for assistive listening. But for those of us with average hearing, think of all the environments where we're going to benefit too. And you know, your airports, your stadiums, and arenas. These are spaces where none of us can hear very well or clearly, and we need to. And so Auracast is now available to all of us. It will be available on all of our devices the same way we use Wi-Fi, the same way we use traditional Bluetooth. So it's pretty exciting.

The Restaurant Game Audio Example

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS 2:04

So, Mike, yeah, have uh an example, real life example. A couple of nights ago, some buddies and I went to a local restaurant to watch the Knicks and the Spurs. And the acoustics were just horrendous. Now, I have normal hearing on an audiogram, but I definitely present with difficulty and noisy situations. So you put that on top of it, then you have horrible acoustics, and then the game is like blasting. It makes not for a great listening experience. Am I correct in saying that had that restaurant outfitted their location with Oracast, and I had Oracast compatible earbuds or hearing aids, I could have streamed that game right through my earbuds or hearing aids if I'm wearing them. Correct.

Mikey Shaffer 2:56

And so could everybody else in that room that has a way to connect. And that's the beauty. And that's what's going to really get this ball rolling, is that we venues now have a way to accommodate those with hearing loss in that situation and the rest of us as well, which really gets this adopted much quicker, right? When we can get everyone to care, then we can get everyone marching in the same direction for Oracast adoption. So, yes, you nailed it. That's the exact environment where this is going to be successful.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS 3:24

And in a couple seconds now, you're going to explain to us like where you're seeing the fastest real-world Oracast adoption today. But I want to share a story with you, Mikey, that I don't think I've shared with even during our discovery call. I have an acquaintance who was sharing with me that she and her mother went to a concert and her mother is hearing impaired and wears hearing aids. And her mother reported to her, you know, I'm just, I don't enjoy this as much as I used to. And now this specific venue was not outfitted with Auracast. And I believe this was a couple of years ago. But we're hearing that all too often now, Mikey. And the hearing technology today is so incredible, way more advanced than it was seven or eight years ago. But they can only do so much when there's this cacophony of sound just coming at you, especially at a music venue or in an airport. So situations we've already mentioned, but where are you in listen technologies seeing the fastest adoption? You know, is it public venues? Is it corporate environments? And really what is driving that acceleration?

Where Adoption Is Moving Fastest

Mikey Shaffer 4:40

So, you know, I've launched a few technologies in assistive listening. Things don't move fast in assistive listening, but in my time, we've launched a few technologies and we know what that adoption rate usually is. And it's kind of reliant on the hearing aid adoption rate as well, right? We can connect it direct to hearing aids that have that technology within them. And that ball is rolling much faster than we ever anticipated. And here we are, it's everywhere. It's prolific. The trust, the amount of trust being put in this new technology is really, really encouraging to see. So your houses of worship or local spaces are really adopting very quickly. But higher education, performing arts centers, anywhere where, you know, higher education is a great example. These folks are young, they know how to use technology, they have technology turnover very often. And they also want a discrete way to connect. They don't want to check out assistive listening receivers. So spaces like that, again, the performing arts centers, we're seeing this be deployed throughout so many Broadway theaters. Sydney Opera House, big names. This summer it will launch at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. So it's really hard to tie it to, you know, one type of venue. Even corporate environments are really getting in on this, and they're generally not legally required by the ADA to do so, but they're doing it because they know it's the right fit and they're very interested in future-proofing these installations and this investment. And this is the way to do it.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS 6:08

I'm really excited here, Mikey, because when you were saying, it's like it's not mandated to have this technology, but what's so incredible is when I'm out in the field and I'm just talking, you know, because naturally I love hearing healthcare and the technology that that is behind what we do on a daily basis. When I share about the Oracast technology, there's never a like, well, no, we don't need it's always, oh, that's amazing. I was actually explaining it yesterday to actually one of our guests on the Hearing Matters podcast in the studio, and he was just blown away by the fact that multiple people could connect. And when you're talking about accessibility, I mean a direct audio input is really what Oracast is. Now, we do, of course, have a lot of hearing care professionals that tune in to this show, but I also want to be cognizant, Mikey, of the consumers that are tuned in and listening right

Brand Agnostic Audio And Ecosystem

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS 7:08

now. If they are currently wearing hearing aids, does Oracast only connect to one specific brand or is it brand agnostic, sort of like an open source stream, if you will?

Mikey Shaffer 7:19

It is exactly that. It is brand agnostic. It is an open source stream. In fact, those of us building to this protocol have agreed to build to a protocol where it's all interoperable. So my transmitters will work with your receivers, which are hearing the aids, if we've built to the same protocol. The same thing is true for speakers and earbuds. And so that's what makes it the most exciting. It's we are all working for this adoption. You, we, you know, hearing care specialists, they want transmissions in their communities so that the hearing aids they are providing will connect. And I want the same. I want hearing aids in these communities that are able to connect to my transmissions. And so we are working together in a way we've we haven't been able to before. And that's why we're getting the adoption that we are. We have the power of Bluetooth behind us. We have the power of the hearing aid manufacturers, manufacturers like us. And I should mention all the other manufacturers in the audio space are adding this on. So speakers, microphones, you name it, we're building an ecosystem so that in a few years, anywhere my husband goes, he can walk in, see if there's audio available, and connect it directly to his hearing aids. So again, it's a very exciting time. You can in real time see the lists of products that Bluetooth has approved as Oracast-enabled devices on their website. It's updated every day. This is happening very, very quick. It's real, it's here. There's no reason to wait. And it plays really well with the other technologies that are already out there. For your listeners, just for their personal awareness, public spaces are required to accommodate those with hearing loss with an assistive listening system. It's required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. So there are many systems already out there. Most of them rely on checking out a receiver and wearing a headset or perhaps connecting via a neck loop to a telecoil-enabled hearing aid. Those are already existing. Oracast plays really well as a complement to those systems as well. There is no one size fits all public address assistive listening. Everyone has different needs and preferences. The best system is the one that gets used. So putting in complementary systems, it doesn't mean we have to tear out what's already been invested in a venue, but it does mean we can give more and better access if we add on an Oracle system as well. And that's true for all of us. It also has very, very high quality audio, better audio than we can deliver with any of our other technologies in assistive listening, which makes it a really pleasant experience. And then you're delivering it directly to their listening device that has been programmed specifically for their needs. You can't beat

Stigma Reduction And Social Access

Mikey Shaffer 10:08

that.

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS 10:08

Mikey, so much to unpack there. As you're, and this is why I love hosting the show, because I get to learn so much from all of our guests. So, first things first, when you were answering that question, was I I just had this thought that Oracast will absolutely and is positively influencing the reduction of the stigma associated with hearing aids. Because if we're talking about untreated hearing loss and wearing hearing aids, yes, the stigma has been reduced throughout the years. But is part of that and has part of that stigma been associated with a lack of connectivity, not from a technological standpoint, but from a community-based standpoint. Whereas now hearing aid users can go to their favorite venue and connect to Oracast. Or let's say a patient, like I was telling you about my acquaintance, she and her mother went to a concert. She doesn't want to go to concerts anymore. And then that can have the trickle-down effect of you're socially withdrawing, you're not doing a lot of stuff that you'd liked. The importance of direct audio input, Oracast is creating that. As a hearing care professional, I just have to extend my gratitude and thank you and your team. And of course, you know, Bluetooth SIG for all collaborating and working together because you are creating this inclusive ecosystem, not only for the hearing impaired, but for those with normal hearing. And I also had a thought here where, you know, we know that untreated hearing loss is linked to loss US earnings. So now with Oracast, when I was in graduate school, we had an assistive technologies class. Thank you to Dr. Susan Dilmouth Miller. I have to shout her out. But she had us do all these different projects. And one of them was go to a movie and ask for their ALD device. And for whatever reason, like growing up in the industry, I was like nervous to do this. Like, and I'm I'm just being vulnerable here. Like I was like, ah, I don't, this is just like uncomfortable for me. But, anyways, they have the devices, we tested them out. But this technology has been available. What I think is so cool personally about Oracast is this connection to all devices, not just one singular device. And then third, you talked about the venues.

Upgrading Venues Without Full Replacement

Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS 12:33

Now, there are some venues who have loop systems. One of the drawbacks of the loop systems was the cost, right? Some people don't want to have the loop systems in. Even in educational systems like a classroom, FM systems love them, huge proponent of them. I think every class should have one. But again, cost. With Oracast, like, how should venues, Mikey, be thinking about upgrading? Is this an incremental retrofit? Is this a full system replacement?

Mikey Shaffer 13:05

What are you kind of seeing in the field? That's a great question because we are addressing it in the field every day. And up until now, hearing loops were the direct connect to a hearing aid. Certainly there's other technologies, but a telecoil hearing aid and a hearing loop was ideal because you could just enter into the space. And as long as you were within that loop and you could just activate your telecoil and you would have a direct connection to your own hearing aid, which is I it's the ideal, right? You don't have to call attention to yourself. You don't have to get up and check out equipment. It's ideal, but you're right, it's expensive. And getting that funded, it was difficult and also installed. It's installed in the infrastructure of the building. So that's what makes it great. It's not an afterthought add-on, but it's expensive. It's, you know, can be disruptive in the construction project, and it can be ruined if someone cuts through it not knowing it's there and things like that. So they, you know, oftentimes they would find them offline or things like that. With Oracast, that is a much easier lift. I can get this product in more spaces faster because it's a fraction of the cost. It's an add-on to their existing system. And again, 100% of their patrons can now have access to it. And so that gets these venues to really care. But what do they do with these investments they've already made? Again, it's a complementary solution. Not everyone has a telecoil or as a telecoil hearing aid or an ORACAS enabled hearing aid. So having both is even better and accommodates more folks. And again, things are better together. And if you can't do one or the other, start somewhere.