ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND and BERLIN — CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies and integrated IP solutions, and Mimi Hearing Technologies announced today they will partner to bring Mimi’s advanced hearing IP to the CEVA Bluebud wireless audio platform.
Aimed at “democratizing the fast-growing assistive hearing market”, the collaboration lowers the entry barrier for the development of assistive hearables and TWS headphones that can offer a “safe, customizable audio experience for each individual user”.
The companies will showcase Mimi Sound Personalization at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV, January 5-8, 2022.
Growing Assistive Hearing Market
Assistive hearables are “fast becoming an affordable over-the-counter alternative to medical-grade hearing aids and address the growing demand for individuals who require some level of hearing correction”.
Juniper Research anticipates that more than 92 million assistive hearables will ship in 2024, showing a 46% CAGR between 2020 and 2024. Moreover, it is expected that smart hearable technology will be adopted by the majority of TWS earbuds and headsets, further expanding the market for sound personalization software in the coming years.
Mimi’s Sound Personalization technology works by assessing the listener’s hearing ability in minutes with the Mimi Hearing Test. After the test, a Mimi Hearing ID is created and stored in the headphones, adjusting the sound to the user’s unique hearing profile wherever they listen. As a result, more sounds become audible again, and details otherwise lost are restored, creating a more immersive and intelligible audio experience.
CEVA’s Bluebud DSP-enabled wireless audio platform is said to address the technology complexities of developing smart TWS and wireless headphone audio ICs. It provides a drop-in IP solution for semiconductors and system companies that can be easily enhanced and differentiated through the integration of software on the onboard CEVA-BX1 DSP. By porting the sound personalization technology to Bluebud, CEVA and Mimi are “opening up the wireless audio market to offer value-add assistive hearing features on any Bluebud-powered TWS IC, in a cost and power-efficient manner”.
“From the over two million hearing individual hearing tests conducted with our Mimi Hearing Test app, we know everyone hears differently and this is what drives us to bridge the gap between hearing and audio. Partnering with CEVA, the world’s leader in Bluetooth audio platform IP, is an important step towards the proliferation of our sound personalization software. Their stellar customer base and market reach in the earbuds space is second to none, and together we can bring the power of assistive hearing to the masses.”
–Mimi CEO, Philipp Skribanowitz
“The hearables market is undergoing rapid growth, as are the breadth of technologies incorporated within these incredible products,” said Moshe Sheier, Vice President of Marketing at CEVA.
“Assistive hearing and sound personalization are two of the most exciting areas for consumers these days, and our partnership with Mimi aims to deliver the optimal hearing experience for every user. Our Bluebud wireless audio platform inherently streamlines TWS and headphones audio IC development and its ability to support software like Mimi Sound Personalization enables OEMs and ODMs to truly differentiate their customers audio experience.”
Experience the Technology at CES 2022
CEVA and Mimi will showcase the Bluebud platform and Mimi’s hearing IP at the upcoming CES 2022, January 5-8, 2022 in Las Vegas, NV. CEVA’s private meeting suite is located in the Westgate Hotel at the Convention Center. Contact [email protected] to request a meeting and experience the technology. Mimi’s meeting suite is located at the Venetian hotel. To schedule a meeting, please contact [email protected].
Readers interested to learn more about Mimi can check out a recent interview conducted with Mimi’s Chief Research Officer, Sarah Voice:
About Mimi Hearing Technologies
Founded in 2014 in Berlin, Mimi Hearing Technologies is a world-leading provider of digital healthcare hearing tests and hearing-ability-based sound personalization. Born out of years of scientific research, Mimi aims to give listeners the best possible audio experience driven by a commitment to hearing health across any device tailored to the individual listener. Mimi wants to create a world where hearing is no longer a barrier to interaction and enjoyment. The company’s website can be found at https://mimi.io.
Mimi products and integrations have won numerous international awards, including the EISA Best Buy OLED TV (2021-2022) for sound personalization in TP Vision Philips TV, the CES Innovation Award (2019 & 2018) for sound personalization in Beyerdynamic headphones, the SATVISION Innovation Prize (2018) for sound optimization in Loewe TVs, the Sonar+D Award for Innovation (2017), StartUps & Developer Award at the San Francisco Music Tech Summit (2017) and the IFA Berlin Prize for Audio Innovation (2017).
About CEVA, Inc.
CEVA is the leading licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies and integrated IP solutions for a smarter, safer, connected world. We provide Digital Signal Processors, AI engines, wireless platforms, cryptography cores and complementary software for sensor fusion, image enhancement, computer vision, voice input and artificial intelligence. These technologies are offered in combination with our Intrinsix IP integration services, helping our customers address their most complex and time-critical integrated circuit design projects. Leveraging our technologies and chip design skills, many of the world’s leading semiconductors, system companies and OEMs create power-efficient, intelligent, secure and connected devices for a range of end markets, including mobile, consumer, automotive, robotics, industrial, aerospace & defense and IoT.
Our DSP-based solutions include platforms for 5G baseband processing in mobile, IoT and infrastructure, advanced imaging and computer vision for any camera-enabled device, audio/voice/speech and ultra-low-power always-on/sensing applications for multiple IoT markets. For sensor fusion, our Hillcrest Labs sensor processing technologies provide a broad range of sensor fusion software and inertial measurement unit (“IMU”) solutions for markets including hearables, wearables, AR/VR, PC, robotics, remote controls and IoT. For wireless IoT, our platforms for Bluetooth (low energy and dual mode), Wi-Fi 4/5/6 (802.11n/ac/ax), Ultra-wideband (UWB) and NB-IoT are the most broadly licensed connectivity platforms in the industry.
