The first time Andrew Bellavia attended a live performance featuring a new assistive listening technology for people with hearing aids, he was blown away.
He had become accustomed over the years to inconsistent sound quality when using assistive listening technologies at live performances. But at a choral performance in New York in 2024, the venue used a relatively new technology called Auracast to transmit the sound directly to his hearing aids.
“It was really crisp and clear,” said Bellavia, of Woodstock, who has a consulting business related to hearing and communications. “It amazed me, and that was when I really started getting excited about where it could go.”
It’s a technology that’s starting to slowly spread in the Chicago area. In recent months the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire installed Auracast, as did the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights. Chicago’s Goodman Theatre hopes to launch the technology at performances later this month, and Bellavia’s church in Woodstock has also installed it.
“We are seeing already Auracast deployment or installation in places of worship, museums, transportation centers,” said Jill Mecklenburger, principal audiologist with GN Hearing, which makes Auracast-enabled hearing aids. “All sorts of venues have been and will be adopting this.”
The technology is a new type of Bluetooth that can broadcast to multiple devices at once. In a venue with Auracast, a person with hearing aids or earbuds that are compatible with Auracast can use their smart phones to connect their hearing aids or earbuds with Auracast, similar to the way a person might use their phone to connect with a venue’s Wi-Fi. Unlike other types of Bluetooth, people don’t have to pair their devices.
Several companies now make transmitters — about the size of an internet modem — that venues can install. And a number of companies are also making hearing aids and earbuds that are compatible with Auracast.
Public venues are now catching up with the new technology, said Kristen Conners, an audiologist at Prescription Hearing at Orland Hearing Center.
“Within the next five years I think we’ll see big, big changes,” Conners said of Auracast installation in venues.
The Sydney Opera House in Australia launched Auracast earlier this year, according to GN Hearing.
Locally, the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights installed Auracast in early November. The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire launched Auracast with the opening of its show “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas” in November. Many of the theater’s patrons use hearing aids and were excited for the new technology, said Liz Lach, producing associate at the theater.
“When we did that opening performance, everyone was very impressed with just how clear everything sounded in the space,” Lach said. “As more people have the compatibility set into their hearing aids it will make it easier to go into that system.”
The Marriott, along with many other theaters, has been using what’s known as a telecoil system for years. Sound from the telecoil system can also go straight to a patron’s hearing aids, with the press of a button on the hearing aid.
With the telecoil system, an amplifier and copper wire (installed under the carpet or within the floor) transmit audio from the sound system via a magnetic field. A wire inside the hearing aid then allows the hearing aid to become a wireless receiver, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America.
Other theaters may use an FM system, transmitting sound to headphones via radio transmission. Theaters with assistive listening systems must also provide portable receivers for patrons to use to access the systems, in case they don’t have compatible hearing aids, Bellavia said.
Proponents of Auracast say it can be cheaper, easier to install and provide better sound quality than some previous options. The system can also be used with compatible earbuds, which can be handy for people who may not have hearing aids but want better sound quality or fewer distractions when viewing performances.
“Let’s say you’re a normal hearing person who just wants to take it down a notch or a neurodiverse person who’s distracted by the sounds around you,” said Bellavia, who provides consulting services to the nonprofit organization that defines Bluetooth standards. “You’re not going to get fitted with hearing aids. You can, however, buy a set of earbuds and make them work for you.”
Barbara Kelley, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America, said she’s excited about the promise of Auracast. Though existing systems have served some people well, not every system works for everyone, she said. She said she’s in favor of any technology that’s easy to use and works well.
“Auracast is coming on the scene and personally my big hope for Auracast is it becomes ubiquitous,” Kelley said. “People should be able to enjoy the theater, meetings, worship, whatever they’re doing in their lives and have the access they need.”
The Goodman Theatre, which hopes to use Auracast for its upcoming performances of “Holiday,” is installing Auracast and a new induction loop system to help patrons with hearing loss.
Executive Director John Collins hopes that between the two systems, more people will be able to enjoy the theater’s shows. The systems are among a number of other things the theater offers to help make performances more accessible, including shows with sign language interpretation, Spanish subtitles and sensory-friendly performances, Collins said.
“If we’re going to be Chicago’s flagship theater, we have to make sure that the work we’re offering is accessible to everyone,” Collins said. “There are so many barriers to participation in the arts. This is one way we can address some of what might be keeping people away.”
