Fortell hires NYU Langone researchers to scientifically test its hearing aid
Fortell isn’t just another gadget on the shelf. The startup has built a hearing aid that claims to out‑perform the current AI‑driven options, yet the metric most users care about—how clear speech actually sounds—remains notoriously elusive. To move beyond marketing copy, Fortell turned to academia, pulling in specialists from NYU Langone’s audiology and neuroscience labs.
The goal? Design a double‑blind test that pits its device against the market leader under conditions that strip away brand bias. By anchoring the comparison in a controlled experiment, the company hopes to let data, not hype, speak for the product’s efficacy.
This approach raises the stakes for a sector where subjective reports often dominate, and it puts Fortell’s confidence on display. The next step, detailed in the company’s announcement, involves exactly that kind of scientific scrutiny.
"It's hard to measure hearing quality, but Fortell has set out to prove scientifically that it has a better solution to hearing loss. It contracted researchers in NYU Langone's audiology and neuroscience departments to consult on a blind experiment comparing Fortell with the leading AI-powered hearing…"
It's hard to measure hearing quality, but Fortell has set out to prove scientifically that it has a better solution to hearing loss. It contracted researchers in NYU Langone's audiology and neuroscience departments to consult on a blind experiment comparing Fortell with the leading AI-powered hearing aid competitor, a Swiss company called Phonak, whose devices retail for $4,000 and is considered the gold standard in AI hearing products. (In the study, Phonak isn't mentioned by name and is identified only as the control hearing aid group.) The test matched performance in environments where noise was coming at random intervals from three directions--kind of an emulation of the Cocktail Party Problem.
Will the study settle the debate? Fortell has enlisted NYU Langone's audiology and neuroscience researchers to design a blind comparison with the leading AI‑powered hearing aid. The goal is simple: provide scientific evidence that its device delivers better hearing quality.
Measuring hearing quality, however, is notoriously difficult, a point the company itself acknowledges. By partnering with an academic institution, Fortell hopes to move beyond anecdote toward data. The experiment will pit its AI‑driven solution against the current market leader under controlled conditions.
Results have not yet been released, and it remains unclear whether the trial will confirm Fortell's claims. Nonetheless, the approach signals a shift from marketing hype to empirical testing. If the blind study shows a measurable advantage, the claim of superior performance would gain credibility.
Conversely, without clear outcomes, the promise remains provisional. For now, the hearing‑aid market watches a modest, science‑first effort, awaiting objective results before drawing conclusions.
Further Reading
- Papers with Code - Latest NLP Research - Papers with Code
- Hugging Face Daily Papers - Hugging Face
- ArXiv CS.CL (Computation and Language) - ArXiv
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Common Questions Answered
Why did Fortell partner with NYU Langone researchers for its hearing aid test?
Fortell enlisted NYU Langone's audiology and neuroscience experts to design a scientifically rigorous double‑blind study, ensuring that claims about superior hearing quality are validated by independent academic methodology rather than marketing hype.
What is the primary metric Fortell aims to improve over existing AI‑driven hearing aids?
The startup focuses on the clarity of speech perception, a metric that directly reflects how users experience conversational sound and is considered the most important yet elusive measure of hearing aid performance.
How does the planned double‑blind experiment compare Fortell's device to the market leader?
The study pits Fortell against Phonak, the Swiss AI‑powered hearing aid regarded as the gold standard, while keeping participants unaware of which device they are testing to eliminate brand bias and isolate true performance differences.
What challenges does Fortell acknowledge in measuring hearing quality?
Fortell admits that quantifying hearing quality is notoriously difficult because subjective perception varies widely, which is why the company relies on controlled academic testing to generate objective, reproducible data.