[jonathanlb]

I'll tell you what's not hot: cochlear implants. I wore hearing aids since the late '80s. I wear CIs as of about 5 years ago, and while my hearing is much better and stable than it used to be, I've found that UX for CIs is pretty bad.

For one, unless you use Med-El's Rondo processeor, you're going to have a thin cable connecting your processor to the coil. Taking off your CIs and putting them back on (as one does every day) is going to put stress on the cable. Sometimes the cable frays and you find that out with sound cutting in and out. There's nothing you can do until the manufacturer sends you a replacement cable in exchange for your frayed one. If you want a backup, be ready to shell out $250 for each cable.

Another UX issue is that processors depend on gravity to stay on your ears. Since there's no earmold to anchor to, processors can easily be jostled off and left hanging precariously. Wearing hearing aids, I never had to worry that my hearing devices would fall off if I rode my bike on a bumpy road. Also with cochlear implants, high-intensity interval training requires some kind of hat or bandana to make sure that the processors don't fly out.

Battery life is another disappointment. Rechargeable batteries don't last a full day. If I put them in at 6:30a, they'll last until about 4:30p. With disposable zinc air batteries, I can squeeze out about a day and a half, but then I'm having to dispose batteries. And while I can track processor battery levels with the rechargeable batteries on my phone, disposable batteries are opaque to the app.

One new thing that would be useful in terms of UX would be an configurable indicator, e.g., a blinking LED, signaling that audio streaming is occurring. It's awkward to find oneself in a conversation that already started and having to excuse oneself to turn off the stream.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I have my cochlear implants, but they're way behind hearing aids in terms of UX.

[pugworthy]

I know one person at work with CIs and yea, I imagine it's a challenge.

UX for a lot of assistive technology is iffy at best. Repeating some of the comments others have made, I'd love it if Apple would make a full on hearing aid that "just worked". Or someone would do a good AI integration that could notify you of things you probably should focus on - like someone trying to get your attention, or emergency vehicle sirens, etc.

Marketing too. But it's nice to see some vendors starting to actually make their devices visible and fun. HAs are a bit like glasses ages ago, when it was kind of this shame thing to get teased about when you were 8 years old. Selling them as "discrete" and with colors designed to match your skin or your hair is just continuing that perception of them being something you should hide.

[shawabawa3]

What model do you have?

My daughter has the Cochlear N8 and the rechargeable battery lasts 20 hours

> Sometimes the cable frays and you find that out with sound cutting in and out

Is there any way you can know about this, e.g. from the app? I'm asking because my daughter is 1 and if this was happening she'd currently have no way of communicating that to us

[jonathanlb]

> What model do you have?

I have an Advanced Bionics Naida. Battery life has consistently been around 8h for a few years. Then recently, my batteries decided they wanted to work part-time.

> Is there any way you can know about this, e.g. from the app?

As far as I know, there isn't a way to verify sound connection issues within the app. They happen too quickly, but usually the giveaway is that the part of the cable that connects to the coil feels like it's about to fall off. It's at the ends, usually, that most of the failures occur.

[janeerie]

Two things that we use for my son's CI are a cable wrap, which gives the cable a bit of reinforcement, and what we call the "eagle claw" - a little plastic hook that goes on the bottom and hooks around the ear lobe to give it a bit more stability.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/870982894/cochlear-implant-cabl...

[danielparks]

Have you tried the non-over-the-ear cochlear devices? The kind that have everything built into the part that sticks magnetically to your implant — I don’t know what the term is; I don’t use them myself.

I know somebody who really dislikes the over-the-ear type devices and swears by the all-in-one kind.

She seems to get a full day of battery out of hers, but I don’t know what kind they are and I imagine usage patterns make a big difference.

[jonathanlb]

> Have you tried the non-over-the-ear cochlear devices?

No, I have not, but from what I've heard, the sound processing isn't as strong because with the BTE (Behind the ear) models, the microphone is unobstructed and can pick up sound coming from the front. With the all-in-one devices, the microphone sits slightly behind the head and has a horizon (and hair) obstructing the audio.

If I'm wrong and the sound processing is actually decent, I'll be willing to give it a shot provided my insurer decides to carry Med-El.

[shawabawa3]

that's the Med-El's Rondo processor they referenced (there's also the Cochlear Kansu), so presumably they know of them and have tried them

For what it's worth in the UK the NHS no longer provides the off the ear models (at least for children) as they say they have too many problems with them

[rokicki]

For Cochlear brand your kit should include backup coils, and replacement is overnight. If you turn on lights (child mode) the processor lights indicate streaming with blue. I love my cochlear implants even though the integration UI and reliability is not perfect yet.

[jonathanlb]

Advanced Bionics used to provide backups, but appear to have scrapped that program in favor of an exchange.

And don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the technology. For example, I can now hear hummingbirds and squirrels chirping. Speech in noise also makes it a lot easier to hear in noisy environments.