Legato’s aim is to make hearing assistance feel more like wearing ordinary prescription glasses rather than using a separate medical device. “Our goal is to make hearing as ubiquitous as vision,” Trivedi said in an interview with TechCrunch. “It’s kind of a no-brainer that you go to an eye exam, you get your glasses, you wear your glasses, and you’re happy, and you do that for the rest of your life — and the idea of it being blurry again where you would just stop wearing them is not a consideration. I think that’s what we want to do with hearing: just make it something that people address and almost forget about.”
The company is targeting mild to moderate hearing loss, which it says represents the largest share of people with hearing difficulties. Legato is also trying to address some of the barriers associated with traditional hearing aids, including price, comfort and stigma.
To keep the product closer to conventional eyewear, the startup developed its own acoustic system, signal-processing software and mechanical design. The goal was to keep the frames small and lightweight while still providing hearing assistance throughout the day.
The glasses also take a different approach to separating speech from surrounding sound. Instead of relying mainly on directional microphones, Legato uses an AI system intended to identify voices within noisy environments and boost those while suppressing background noise. That design is meant to make speech easier to follow in places such as restaurants, where multiple sound sources can make listening difficult.
“We wanted to deliver an experience that was unique,” Trivedi said. “So a form factor that’s really discreet and looks normal. They’re meant to feel and look like regular glasses. And so, we want it to be a product that’s effortless, easy to use, with kind of no controls that you need to fiddle with, works everywhere, works throughout your day, doesn’t need a ton of configuration, and just delivers you better hearing.”
Legato Frames use an open-ear design rather than placing hardware inside the ear. The company says a two-speaker system directs audio toward the wearer while canceling sound that would otherwise leak outward. According to Legato, the design cuts escaping audio by 99% within a few inches of the ear.
The company’s $12 million in funding came from Neotribe Ventures, Listen and Village Global. Legato has used much of that capital for product development, with additional spending going toward marketing.
The company is entering a large but under-treated market. An estimated 50 million U.S. adults have hearing loss, while only about 20% of people diagnosed with the condition seek treatment.
Legato plans to distribute the frames through selected eye-care providers across the U.S. when they launch later this year. The company says they will cost substantially less than traditional hearing aids and may qualify for vision insurance when purchased through an eye-care clinic. “We have an opportunity to address a population with this product and build something that delivers without all the compromises of traditional hearing aids,” Trivedi said.
For Legato, the strategy is to combine vision and hearing support in a product people may already be comfortable wearing every day. The first test will be whether that familiar form factor can make hearing assistance easier to adopt for people who have avoided conventional hearing aids.
This analysis is based on reporting from TechCrunch.
Image courtesy of Legato.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
