{"id":6533,"date":"2022-01-27T05:40:37","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T05:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldsite.chha.ca\/?p=6533"},"modified":"2022-01-27T05:40:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T05:40:53","slug":"hearing-technology-leads-the-emerging-assistive-technology-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldsite.chha.ca\/fr\/hearing-technology-leads-the-emerging-assistive-technology-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Hearing Technology Leads the Emerging Assistive Technology Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

D\u00e9sol\u00e9, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Am\u00e9ricain<\/a>. Pour le confort de l\u2019utilisateur, le contenu est affich\u00e9 ci-dessous dans une autre langue. Vous pouvez cliquer le lien pour changer de langue active.<\/p>By Sheila Serup, MBA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall trends in innovative assistive technology show that the most active domain is hearing, followed by mobility, vision, and communication.<\/p>\n

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in its 2021 Trends Report on assistive technology noted that in the emerging assistive technology space, innovations in hearing assistive technology lead the way. The report results were shared in a recent webinar hosted by WIPO titled: \u201cReducing Inequalities through Technologies: A Perspective on Disability Inclusive Development.\u201d<\/p>\n

The December 3rd, 2021 webinar, in commemoration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, also discussed how the pandemic has accelerated the use of internet, and how the pandemic has shed light on the significant inequities and exclusion that remain in the digital world.
\nThe study by WIPO is the first to \u201csystematically look into patenting and technology trends across assistive technology at scale\u201d by analyzing data on patent filings over a 10-year period from 1998 to 2019. The study findings show that filings in emerging technology is growing three times faster than conventional technology.<\/p>\n

It noted that over 1 billion users worldwide currently need assistive technology, and this figure is expected to double to 2 billion by 2050 as the population ages. Persons with physical, sensory, cognitive\/learning, or invisible disabilities represent nearly 15 per cent of the world population with a higher prevalence in developing counties.
\nThe WIPO study analysis revealed that \u201cemerging assistive products use one or a combination of several enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence, brain-computer\/machine interface and advanced sensors.\u201d Emerging products, such as hearing technology, are not replacing conventional assistive products, but are complementing them.
\nThe report by WIPO observed that emerging hearing assistive products include \u201cenvironment-controlling and mind-controlled hearing aids, with cochlear implants accounting for nearly half of emerging patent filings. The areas of greatest growth in hearing are non-invasive bone conduction, and gesture to voice and text. \u201c<\/p>\n

In conventional communication assistive technology, 6,899 patent families were filed for technologies such as:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Special software and services (59%)
\n\u2022 Visual communication (25%)
\n\u2022 Audio communication, speech input (11%)
\n\u2022 Switches and input devices (8%)
\n\u2022 Audio communication: Text-to-speech (TTS) (7%)<\/p>\n

In emerging communication assistive technology, 1,599 patent families were filed for technologies such as:<\/strong><\/p>\n