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Legato puts AI speech assistance inside its glasses

Legato introduced Frames, hearing-assistance glasses for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. The company says its AI separates speech from background noise and processes sound on the glasses, without a camera or audio recording. Speakers direct sound toward the wearer while leaving the ear canal open. Founders Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine bring experience from Bose’s eyewear and hearing businesses.

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An adult wearing hearing-assistance glasses listens to a companion in a cafe.

Frames places hearing assistance in eyewear

Legato introduced Frames on 1 October, putting hearing assistance into the arms of glasses. The product is designed for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. Its speech-processing approach uses AI to emphasize conversation over background noise, according to the company.[1], [2]

The company describes a system that separates voices, amplifies speech and suppresses unwanted sound. It says processing happens on the glasses themselves, with no camera or audio recording. The design brings hearing assistance into a form already used for eyewear, rather than requiring the speech-processing components to sit inside the ear canal.[1]

Speakers direct sound toward the wearer

A dual-speaker arrangement is designed to direct sound toward the wearer and reduce spill to people nearby. The open-ear layout leaves the ear canal unobstructed. These functions are described by the manufacturer; the launch account does not establish the same clinical benefit for every wearer or superiority over other hearing devices. Different hearing conditions are not compared through an independent clinical study in that account.[1]

Founders bring experience from audio and eyewear

Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine founded Legato in 2024. Trivedi worked on Bose Frames before moving into smart eyewear work at Luxottica connected with Meta Ray-Ban. Romine worked in Bose’s hearing division and later became chief operating officer at Audicus, a hearing-care company. Their previous work spans the audio systems and wearable form involved in the new product.[1]

References

  1. News sourceTechCrunchLegato launches AI hearing glasses designed to emphasize speech↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceHearingTrackerLegato puts AI speech assistance inside its glasses↩
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