Future Ear Radio

Guests: Andy Bellavia, Shari Eberts, Carl Thomas, Ryan Kraudel, Brielle Nickoloff, Scot & Susan Westwater

Topic: "What are you most looking forward to in 2021 as it relates to your industry, expertise and passion?"

Dave sits down with seven of his guests from the show this year to highlight what each person is most looking forward to in 2021 as it relates to their industry and expertise.

This is part one of two, focusing on folks with a background in hearables and voice technology. Part two will feature a group working in and around hearing healthcare. 

Episode transcript: here

Guest: Andrew Song, Co-Founder and President of Whisper.ai

Topic: Whisper.ai and a Novel Approach to Hearing Aids

This week, Dave is joined by Andrew Song, to discuss Whisper.ai and the new approach that the San Francisco-based company is taking with its hearing aid design. Andrew shares the three-pronged approach to their design - receiver-in-the-canal hearing aid devices, the "brain" processor (which is roughly the size of an AirPods case), and a mobile app - and explains how this system relies heavily on artificial intelligence to constantly improve the patient experience. 

In addition to reimagining what a hearing aid system might look like, the company is distributing the Whisper exclusively through hearing professionals and actively looking for professionals to join their network. 

For more information, visit Whisper.ai. 

Episode Transcript: https://futurear.co/2020/12/10/053-andrew-song-whisper-ai-a-novel-approach-to-hearing-aids/ 

Guests: Shawna Jackson, Clinical Audiologist at the Callier Center (Dallas); Jackie Phillips, Audiologist & Product Manager for the Otoscan at Natus Medical

Topic: The Value of 3D Ear Scanners

Jackie and Shawna join Dave this week to highlight an intriguing piece of technology that has recently been introduced to the audiology market: 3D ear scanners. Throughout this conversation, Shawna walks through her experience of using this type of technology at the Callier Center on a daily basis, and speaks to all the various benefits derived from the 3D scanner. In addition, Jackie, as the product manager for one of these devices, helps to further illustrate some unique ways that 3D scanners can be utilized by the professional. 

Ultimately, 3D ear scanners provide a highly effective way for professionals to differentiate their service offering, generate genuine excitement, facilitate patient education, and reinforce their professional value in the eyes of the patient. 

Episode Transcript: https://futurear.co/2020/12/03/052-shawna-jackson-aud-jackie-phillips-aud-the-value-of-3d-ear-scanners/ 

Guest: Richard Einhorn, Owner - Einhorn Consulting

Topic: Breaking Down the Significance of the Jacoti + Qualcomm Partnership and the Consumerization of Hearing Health Functionality

Richard joins Dave on this podcast this week to share his perspective of the Jacoti and Qualcomm partnership, as he has been a longtime consultant for Jacoti. With Qualcomm partnering to integrate Jacoti's hearing augmentation technology inside Qualcomm's chips, we're due to see a number of hearable manufacturers introduce products that utilize this integration to provide hearing augmentation functionality.

The two discuss why this partnership is such a big deal for combatting hearing loss at scale, what it means to bake Jacoti's technology into Qualcomm's hearable chips, and how this impacts the entire spectrum of hearing augmentation devices.

Episode Transcript: https://futurear.co/2020/11/19/051-richard-einhorn-jacoti-qualcomm-the-consumerization-of-hearing-health/ 

Guest: Bret Kinsella, Founder and CEO of Voicebot.ai 

Topic: The State of Voice Technology and What Comes Next

Bret joins Dave for the 50th episode of the podcast to break down the current state of voice technology, with a look toward what's on the horizon with conversational voice assistants. 

The two talk through the following topics:

- The current phase of voice assistants: habituation & specialization - all the various ways that people are gradually building the habit of using voice assistants, along with the specialized voice assistants that are being built for specific domains (i.e. banking, healthcare, agriculture)

- How different modalities (speakers, smart displays, smart TV's, hearables) are adding breadth in use cases and perpetuating the habituation of voice assistants

- How the Alexa, Google and Siri ecosystems are taking shape and what to expect in the near future for each of these, as well as some of the more niche players

- The importance of media to voice assistants and why Bret & Dave agree that it will likely be one of the most impactful use cases for conversational AI 

- Marsbot and the emergence of hearables-specific applications for voice assistants 

Episode Transcription: https://futurear.co/2020/11/12/050-bret-kinsella-the-state-of-voice-tech-what-comes-next/ 

Guests: Nick Hunn, CTO of WiFore Consulting and Chairman of The Bluetooth SIG Hearing Aid Working Group; Carl Thomas, Founder of Audiowings

Topic: The Past, Present and Future of Hearables

In a very special episode of the podcast, Nick Hunn, wireless technology analyst and Bluetooth expert, joins Dave and Carl to share his insight around what's transpired in the hearable market since it emerged roughly five years ago, how it has taken shape up to now, and where Nick believes the market is headed across the next five years.

As the analyst who coined the term, "hearable," Nick offers one of the most knowledgeable and deeply researched perspectives around each facet of this product category. 

Topics covered:

- Why AirPods were so successful and the secondary effects of its success

- Potential applications of Bluetooth LE Audio 

- The role of biometrics in hearables' trajectory 

- How voice assistants will be used in tandem with hearables and the potential ramifications

- The importance of startups to this space 

- The innovation transpiring inside the devices 

Guests: Kat Penno - Audiologist & Founder of the Hearing Collective; Andy Bellavia, Director of Market Development at Knowles Corp

Topic: Lifestyle Enhancement Devices

Kat and Andy join Dave this week to walk through some of the most interesting hearables on the market, highlighting various features and aspects of each device that stand out. 

In addition, the three talk through some of the recent news pertaining to the world of hearables and the use cases that they support, including Spotify's recent update that allows podcasts to now include full music tracks into podcasts, creating entirely new formats of audio content. 

In addition, Foursquare has rolled out its new Marsbot Audio AR platform that has a number of very intriguing use cases and might be shedding a light on how the usage of hearables will evolve across the next few years.

The more you can do with hearing aids & hearables, the more incentive to wear them.

Guests: Dr. Kim Cavitt, Owner of Audiology Resources; Karl Strom, Editor in Chief at the Hearing Review

Topic: Exploring Where the Big Opportunities Lie for Hearing Professionals 

Kim and Karl join Dave to discuss a wide variety of hearing healthcare-related topics and explore how the industry is broadly changing and what types of opportunities all of this change is generating. 

Topics during this episode include:

- Accessibility and meeting patients where they want to be met by using new types of tools and services

- How hearing professionals might think about servicing the mild end of the market and why this side of the market is becoming increasingly ripe with opportunity

- Emphasizing services rooted in evaluation and charging for those services properly

- What new elements to audiology and hearing health excite these two industry veterans most

- Where these two would focus their efforts if they were just starting out in the industry

Guests: Irina Fine & Ian Freed - cofounders of Bamboo Learning

Topic: Building an EdTech Business for Alexa and Google Assistant

Irina and Ian join Dave on the podcast this week to share what it's been like building a business built specifically for Alexa & Google Assistant-enabled devices. Their company, Bamboo Learning, is designed to offer children an immersive learning experience, with a suite of skills and actions that provide educational problems to solve for Math, Literature, English, History and Music. 

The two fill Dave in on recent updates to the company's offering, including a new SaaS "freemium" offering, as well as sharing the lessons they've learned from building on these new platforms. This conversation is a barometer for the health of the voice tech ecosystem, and lends itself to the idea that there are viable businesses that can be built within these emerging ecosystems. 

Guest: Ryan Kraudel, VP Marketing at Valencell 

Topic: Breaking Down the New Apple Watch Series 6 Blood Oxygenation Sensor

Ryan and Dave sit down to discuss the new flagship feature of the Apple Watch Series 6: the blood oxygenation sensor. 

As an expert in biometric sensors stemming from his background at Valencell, Ryan shares how exactly this type of sensor works, why it uses red and infared light, what types of use cases can be built off this metric, and how this new variable factors into Apple's quest to build a true "intelligent guardian of health."

In addition, the two talk about Apple Fitness +, why it's not a threat to Peloton (but rather a boon), and how the Apple Watch's data is being overlaid in real-time to video as a precursor to AR.