Ray-Ban Owner Buys Israeli Startup To Make Hearing Aid Glasses 

Tel-Aviv based startup Nuance Hearing has been purchased by EssilorLuxottica, global eyewear company and maker of Ray-Bans glasses, to develop prescription glasses fitted with its hearing aid technology. 

Nuance’s sound technology will be seamlessly embedded into the lenses of the glasses, making the product the first of its kind to feature a no-show hearing aid. 

The company’s acoustic beamforming technology reduces background noise by focusing on sounds coming from multiple directions.

It then automatically selects and switches between one or multiple sound sources with the highest acoustic energy, which allows for wearers to hear the dominant speaker in a crowded room or in a personal conversation. 

The company says its technology captures, processes, and plays back sounds at a record speed of 6.25 milliseconds, ensuring that “the listener does not even miss the first syllable at the beginning of the sentence.”

Both companies expressed the hope that the fashion-friendly specs will provide a more comfortable and accessible way to aid the hearing impaired by removing the stigma of traditional hearing solutions. 

“We are uniquely positioned to open up a new avenue for the industry by addressing the need for good hearing with innovative technologies,” said Francesco Milleri, Chairman and CEO, and Paul du Saillant, Deputy CEO at EssilorLuxottica.