WTF ARE THE NUHEARA IQBUDS BOOST?

These buds don’t look so special.

Oh, they are. You know how your parents used to warn you to turn down that racket coming out of your headphones, else you’ll go deaf? Now, the reverse is true! Kind of. Nuheara’s Iqbuds Boost can actually enhance the wearer’s hearing.

Appropriately, I’m listening. Go on…

Some tweaking of US legislation last year made it easier for companies to integrate ‘assistive audio’ into their products, and what was once prohibitively expensive technology is suddenly a viable option for people who could really benefit from it. Aimed at those who experience mild to moderate hearing difficulties, the Iqbuds Boost employ AI wizardry to analyse your hearing threshold, amplifying what you want to hear more of.

Give us a real-world example.

It’s Thursday night, you’ve overpaid for too much average lager and you’re struggling to hear the pub quiz questions over all the background kerfuffle. With these buds plugged in, the chirpy quizmaster will be clearer than ever, leaving your total lack of knowledge about Katy Perry’s back catalogue as the only thing holding you back from trivia glory.

Game changer!

Could be. Your personalised profile is displayed on a sort of doughnut graph created by the EARID app. It’s constantly evaluating and calibrating your hearing, reducing unwanted environmental noise and making sure nearby speech is boosted.

Hang on, though – I don’t actually need my lugs augmenting.

Who doesn’t want to selectively tune out background noise? Anyway, when you just want to listen to music you can expect customisable touch controls and – if Nuheara’s previous efforts are anything to go by – decent battery life.