At CES 2025, a new kind of smart wearable made headlines—not for its screens or sensors, but for its silence. Designed by EssilorLuxottica under the brand name Nuance Audio, these audio glasses integrate FDA-cleared hearing assistance with sleek optical frames. What looked like ordinary glasses turned out to be a reimagined solution for millions silently struggling with mild to moderate hearing loss.
The Nuance Audio Glasses are over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids disguised as designer eyewear. With directional microphones, beamforming technology, and open-ear speakers, they offer an elegant alternative to conventional hearing aids—addressing not just sound clarity, but also stigma and comfort. Available in multiple styles, these glasses are now CE-marked in the EU and FDA-approved in the US, ready to disrupt both the optical and hearing aid markets.
How Do These Glasses Improve Hearing Without Looking Like Hearing Aids?
Discreet Open-Ear Audio: Instead of inserting anything into the ear canal, the glasses channel sound through speakers near the temples. This keeps the ears open to natural sounds while providing speech amplification.
Directional Microphones: Tiny mics embedded along the frame pick up sound and isolate speech in noisy environments, allowing users to focus on what matters.
Custom Hearing Profiles: Through the Nuance Audio app, users can personalize sound profiles based on environmental settings or specific listening preferences.
Prescription-Ready Frames: Unlike traditional hearing devices, these glasses support prescription lenses, making them a seamless all-day wearable for many users.
What Technology Powers Nuance Audio Glasses?
Nuance Audio’s innovations are protected by two key patents, both of which are critical to the product’s seamless performance:
1. Beamforming Devices for Hearing Assistance (US12081943B2) This patent covers the multi-microphone array system and the way it smartly processes directional sound. Each arm of the glasses includes microphones placed at strategic distances, which capture sound from specific angles. The onboard processor then applies beamforming algorithms to isolate speech coming from in front of the user while reducing noise from the sides and rear.
The output signal is then filtered and played through the temple-mounted speaker, which ensures the sound is both amplified and directionally accurate. This smart alignment helps avoid the common “whistling” issues found in basic amplification devices.
2. Feedback Cancellation in a Hearing Aid Device Using Tap Coherence Values (US20250133355A1) The second patent solves a familiar problem in audio devices: feedback. Nuance’s system continuously estimates the feedback path and cancels out the echo using a real-time coherence filter. It uses a concept called “tap coherence” to predict and suppress the noise loop between microphone and speaker.
In simple terms, the glasses can distinguish between useful sound (like a person speaking to you) and unwanted loops (like your own voice echoing). This creates a clearer, more natural listening experience even in reflective environments.
Are There Other Smart Glasses Doing This?
Bose Frames (USA): Bose experimented with open-ear audio in their sunglasses line, but did not include any hearing enhancement or directional mics.
JLab JBuds Frames (USA): Attach to existing glasses and play music, but don’t support beamforming or voice isolation.
Ora Sound (Canada): Focused on high-fidelity audio, Ora Sound’s eyewear lacks hearing assistance or medical clearance.
In contrast, Nuance Audio Glasses combine medically cleared hearing support, directional sound enhancement, and elegant optical design in a single frame—making them the first to bridge medical function with daily style.
Nuance Audio Glasses are not about reinventing hearing aids—they’re about rethinking how we wear them. By embedding advanced hearing technology into familiar eyewear, they offer support without spotlight. For people who want to hear better without explaining why, they may be the quietest kind of progress.
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