Biosensors to Create Premium Category of Hearables by 2030, Says Report

Over $5 billion of ear-worn products with biosensors will be sold by 2030, after a gradual introduction starting with conventional sensors such as heart rate devices, said IDTechEx Monday. Penetration by unit volume will be relatively small, but biometric sensor integration will be a premium feature addition to higher-value products with potential for “substantial” revenue, it said. The ear is an ideal location for biosensors because it's close to many useful, high-quality biometric signals, said the report, noting the ear canal has a “shallow, rich capillary bed which makes it suitable for non-invasive monitoring,” such as heart rate. Sensors in the ear are closer to the body’s core, giving optimum measurements for body temperature; the ear is also close to important signals such as brainwaves, eye movement, speech recognition and head tracking, it said. The wider hearables market faces challenges, including impact of the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act and the new category it creates, the duration of current market conditions and dominance of particular brands, failed products in a developing category, and the pace of technological advances. In August, the Food and Drug Administration acknowledged missing its statutory deadline under the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017 for proposing the rule to create a category of OTC hearing aids for people with mild or moderate hearing loss, citing the “urgent needs of COVID-19 patients” (see 2008200024). There’s no definitive schedule for the FDA to release the proposed rule. A spokesperson said in September it could be after the fall (see 2008310007).