Auracast™ Broadcast Audio Ecosystem Expansion Continues into Hearing Aids, Headsets, and the First Real-World Locations

Over the last 12 months, the number of Auracast™ broadcast audio-capable solutions arriving on the market has accelerated significantly. These solutions are paving the way for increased audio accessibility within both public and private arenas. Meanwhile, the first real-world public deployments of Auracast™ broadcast audio have emerged this year, bringing benefits not only to those with hearing difficulties, but also those who are visually impaired, neurodivergent, and without disabilities. While many of these Auracast™ broadcast audio-enabled locations are also supporting hearing loop or alternative assistive solutions, it is important to remember that due to various challenges, most venues around the world do not have any form of assistive hearing technology in place. As a result, Auracast™ broadcast audio is on the path to significantly increasing adoption of assistive listening solutions thanks to its low complexity and ability to support a wider range of receivers.

ABI Research expects that Auracast™ broadcast audio will become a standard feature within the majority of Bluetooth®-enabled audio devices, and with nearly 3.5 billion Low Energy (LE) Audio-enabled device shipments in 2030 alone, Auracast™ broadcast audio is set to revolutionize the audio and assistive listening landscape in the coming years. Below are highlights of the growing diversity of Auracast™ broadcast audio-compatible devices, including hearing aids, earbuds, headphones, and dedicated solutions for public venues. These are, of course, in addition to a growing number of LE Audio and Auracast™ broadcast audio-enabled assistant devices in the form of smartphones, tablets and Personal Computers (PCs) from leading vendors, including Samsung, Xiaomi, and Sony.

Auracast™ Broadcast Audio-Enabled Hearing Aids: There is now a great selection of Auracast™ broadcast audio-capable hearing aids and cochlear implants on the market, while other devices are and will continue to receive firmware updates to enable this capability over time. Some of the more notable products already available include the Cochlear Baha 7 and Nucleus 8 Sound Processors, the GN Hearing Beltone Commence™, Beltone Envision™, Beltone Serene™, ReSound Nexia™, ReSound Savi™, and ReSound Vivia™ hearing aids, and the Starkey Edge AI hearing aid.

Auracast™ Broadcast Audio OTC Hearing Aids: Several Over-the-Counter (OTC) hearing aids are also beginning to support Auracast™ broadcast audio, including the Yeasound RIC800, the Jabra Enhance Select 500, and the Zepp Clarity Omni, making it simpler and more affordable for more people with hearing impairments to take advantage of Auracast™ broadcast audio technology.

Auracast™ Broadcast Audio Receiver Devices: Beyond hearing aids, there are also now a wide range of Auracast™ broadcast audio-capable receiver devices such as headphones and earbuds on the market. While these devices are not meant to replace hearing aids, they can still bring benefits to users who may not be comfortable wearing a hearing aid, people who suffer from milder hearing loss, and neurodivergent users who may benefit from the ability to use their own headsets to isolate themselves from outside noises and reduce the risk of sensory overload.

Examples of receiver products include True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds such as the Audeara Buds, the Avantalk Infinity, the Creative Aurvana Ace, Ace 2, Zen Air Plus, Zen Air Pro, the Jabra Elite 8 and Elite 10, the LG xboom Buds, the Panasonic Technics EAH-AZ100, the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro, Buds3, and Buds3 Pro, and the Sennheiser Accentum True Wireless and Momentum True Wireless 4. Meanwhile, over-the-ear headphones such as the Creative Zen Hybrid Pro, the Humantechnik earisMAX, and the Sony WH-1000XM6 also support Auracast™ broadcast audio.

Auracast™ Broadcast Audio Public Venue Assistive Listening Systems (ALSs)

The first fully-fledged Auracast™ broadcast audio-enabled ALSs designed for public venues have now arrived. Auri™, from Listen Technologies and Ampetronic, was the first solution to market targeting assistive listening within public venues. This consists of the Auri™ TX2N Transmitter and Auri™ RX1 Receiver devices. The receiver includes two 3.5 Millimeter (mm) outputs to connect headphones or neck loops, and allows two users to share a single receiver. Williams AV introduced its Infinium™ system designed for commercial Audio/Visual (AV) environments such as theaters, classrooms and lecture halls, airports and transportation hubs, fitness centers and gyms, and other large-scale venues. This consists of the Infinium™ Auracast™ Controller, Transmitter, and portable Infinium™ R1 Auracast™ receiver. Bettear's B-CASTER Auracast™ streamer is another transmitter device built for public venues such as conference halls, educational campuses, theaters, cinemas, public venues, and sports arenas. In addition, other transmitters designed for public venues include the AuraGate from Opus Technologies.

Auracast™ Broadcast Audio One-to-One and Countertop Solutions: Today, hearing loop solutions can be found in a wide range of public service counters or reception desks for one-to-one conversations. One Auracast™ broadcast audio solution designed specifically for this is the Auraloop from Opus Technologies. This solution integrates support for both magnetic loop and Auracast™ broadcast audio in the same product, with a visitor able to scan a QR code at the counter to set up a confidential one-to-one conversation.

Auracast™ Broadcast Audio Tour-Guide Solutions: Another Auracast™ broadcast audio use case is the ability to enable users to join audio tour systems within venues such as museums, stadiums, convention centers, tourist attractions, and more. The tour guide will be equipped with an Auracast™ broadcast audio transmitter, and listeners are able to listen to the stream with their own Auracast™ broadcast audio-enabled earbuds or hearing aids, or through another headset connected to a receiver device. One example of this on the market today is the Bettear B-RTX, a combined Auracast™ broadcast audio transmitter and receiver device that is aimed to support a range of visitor experiences.

Personal, In-Home, and Retrofit Auracast™ Transmitters: Alongside public venue-oriented devices, there are many Auracast™ broadcast audio transmitters dedicated for use in the home and in other personal environments. These come in a variety of form factors, including Universal Serial Bus (USB) dongles that can connect to smartphones, tablets, and PCs, with 3.5 mm adapters that can plug into existing audio sources such as TVs or airplane audio outputs, dedicated TV streamers, and portable microphones.

Some examples include the Avantree Audikast 4, Voyager, and DG60 Aura, the Creative BT-W6 USB Dongle, the FlooGoo FMA120 USB Dongle, HomeSpot AV Broadcaster, MoerLink™Auracast™ Audio Transmitter, TV hearMore™ Auracast™ Audio Transmitter, SoundLinker™ Portable Auracast™ Audio Transmitter/Remote Mic, Starkey Edge TV Streamer, and GN Hearing ReSound Multi-Mic+ and Resound TV Streamer+, among others. These are typically simplified solutions either for personal use or that could enable homes and small venues to retrofit the ability to broadcast audio streams to multiple users simultaneously, ideal for use cases such as unmuting silent TVs in bars or gyms.

Native Auracast™ Broadcast Audio Devices: Increasingly, many TV manufacturers are starting to embed Auracast™ broadcast audio within their devices directly. Some examples include the Hisense H65E7K QLED Smart TV, the 2025 LG OLED 4K TV and QNED evo 4k, and a number of Samsung Neo QLED 4K and Neo QLED 8K models.

Auracast™ Broadcast Audio Real-World Locations: According to ABI Research, there are more than 60 million venues globally that could potentially benefit from assistive listening or augmented audio experiences. Some of these venues may support multiple use cases, ranging from assistive listening solutions to silent TV use cases, or the emergence of new audio experiences. With the potential for multiple audio transmitters per venue, this equates a very large potential Total Addressable Market (TAM) for Auracast™ broadcast audio solutions. Some notable examples of existing deployments include:

• Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia: In March 2025, the Sydney Opera House deployed Auracast™ broadcast audio within three of its venues, building on existing deployments of hearing loops and FM-based ALSs. Users can receive an Auracast™ broadcast audio receiver device from the cloakroom along with headphones or a personal induction loop, as well as using their own Auracast™ broadcast audio-enabled hearing aids or earbuds. Visitors attending the venue have noticed significant improvements in audio quality, particularly regarding music, as well as a more inclusive experience.
• Grace Lutheran Church, Woodstock, Illinois, United States: Leveraging the Ampetronic Auri solution, the Grace Lutheran Church replaced its existing FM ALS with Auracast™ broadcast audio. The church was able to deploy the new system in just a few hours, with churchgoers noticing a significant improvement in sound quality and ease of use, encouraging more people to take advantage of it.
• Bristol Temple Meads Station, Bristol, United Kingdom: Earlier this year, Bristol Temple Meads railway station became the first transport hub to test Auracast™ broadcast audio, enabling travelers to listen to the station audio and public announcements more clearly. This has the potential to bring a better visitor experience, improve safety, reduce travel disruptions, and enable more people to feel confident in traveling alone.
• Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham, United Kingdom: The Birmingham Hippodrome theater recently deployed Auracast™ broadcast audio to enable a more accessible experience for its visitors. The solution enables users to hear the show through headphones, neck loops, or other Auracast™ broadcast audio-compatible devices such as hearing aids or earbuds, as well as enabling Audio Description for visually impaired users. This enables a better and more immersive experience, while enabling better understanding of shows without the need for subtitles, giving visually impaired visitors much greater choice in choosing when to attend a show.
• Contact Theater, Manchester, United Kingdom: With existing induction loop solutions of limited utility for its audiences, the Contact, a charity, arts venue, and theater in central Manchester recently upgraded from its 30-year-old hearing loop solution to Auracast™ broadcast audio. Immediately, audience members noticed significant improvements, especially in audio quality, while technicians were impressed by the seamless installation and ability to tailor the audio broadcasts depending on the performance, providing a better experience. As a result, Auracast™ broadcast audio now serves as the primary ALS in the theater.

This combination of hearing aid, OTC hearing aid, transmitter, receiver, and fully-fledged ALS shows the growing diversity of the Auracast™ broadcast audio ecosystem. ABI Research expects a rapid expansion in the availability of these solutions in the coming years, as LE Audio penetration increases, people become more familiar with the technology, more and more venues start to integrate the technology, and people are able to test this out in the real world. One of the major barriers, to date, has been the limited availability of diverse transmitter and integrated solutions spanning both larger-scale public assembly systems and portable transmitters, countertop solutions, and solutions that can be easily connected to the widest variety of sources. The recent increase in the availability of these solutions is very encouraging and will rapidly expand the potential of assistive listening technology over the next decade.

However, to drive this further, there is still work to be done. In addition to increasing support across more and more devices, incentivizing Auracast™ broadcast audio adoption in new buildings and advocating for Auracast™ broadcast audio’s inclusion within assistive listening regulatory frameworks across different regions will significantly help accelerate adoption. The arrival of more devices will bring greater awareness of and real-world experience with the technology, but the average potential user of the technology still has limited awareness of what Auracast™ broadcast audio can do, if they have heard of it at all. Finally, work is ongoing to bring several further enhancements to Auracast™ broadcast audio, such as defining a standardized approach when using multiple Auracast™ transmitters in larger environments, support for more streams to support multi-language broadcasts, and a standardized approach to discovering Auracast™ broadcasts on constrained receivers.