LONDON, U.K. – May 15, 2025: Samsung Electronics celebrated Global Accessibility Awareness Day this year with a week of accessibility events and workshops in the U.K. The company’s third edition of Accessibility Festival Week was brought to a close with a groundbreaking pilot event at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, aimed at bringing customers, partners and employees together, through a unique sound experience.

In collaboration with hearing-aid provider, GN, and Ampetronic, Samsung showcased Auracast technology to attendees wearing Galaxy Buds3 Pro or GN hearing aids, which allows a single device to broadcast to multiple receivers, to embark on a unique journey of shared listening. Audio of this experience was broadcasted using Auracast microphones and transmitters directly into participants’ Galaxy Buds3 Pro or GN hearing aids, eliminating background noise to enhance clarity.

Auracast & LE Audio

Introduced in 2022 by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), Low Energy (LE) Audio is an updated standard for Bluetooth technology. It enables more power-efficient and higher-quality wireless transmission of audio from a broadcasting device such as a smartphone, to a receiver such as earbuds.

Auracast is a feature of LE Audio that allows broadcasting from an audio source to multiple audio receivers, including earbuds and hearing aids, turning phones or TV’s into a radio station. It revolutionises audio experiences by enabling multiple devices to connect to a single audio source, fostering an inclusive listening environment. It also enhances audio clarity by reducing background noise, making it ideal for echo-prone venues like cathedrals and museums. Additionally, Auracast offers personalised sound settings, ensuring that users can tailor audio to their preferences and hearing needs, whether enjoying an audio tour or watching TV at home.

Samsung has led efforts to ensure LE Audio compatibility for mobile devices and hearing aids. Since 2022, the company has been pushing for the expansion of LE Audio, introducing 360 Audio Recording and later adopting Auracast through the Buds2 Pro software update.

Samsung’s commitment to hearing accessibility

Among other areas, Samsung’s mission to redefine hearing accessibility has led to an unprecedented collaboration between mobile technology and hearing-aid innovation. With Auracast, Samsung bridges the gap between consumer audio and hearing devices, crafting a seamless, intelligent, and connected listening experience.

• Beyond Personal Audio: Now, both Galaxy Buds and hearing-aid users can tune into the same audio simultaneously, without limitations.
• Beyond Phones: When moving from your smartphone to TV, or from public to private spaces, sound stays with you—with no need to manually pair your device to each new transmitter. Anyone nearby can tune in freely to a shared audio stream, just like joining a public Wi-Fi.
• Beyond Boundaries: Whether at a stadium, airport or cafe, personalised audio is accessible in any setting.

Accessibility Festival Week

Ahead of bringing this vision to life at St Paul’s Cathedral, Samsung hosted its third annual Accessibility Festival Week (AFW) in London. The festival aims to reinforce the company’s commitment to accessibility and foster collaboration across departments and regions. Participants joined a host of activities,  including ‘Inspiration Tours’ exploring inclusive design practices at Samsung KX and Google’s Discovery Centre. Staff were invited to attend a number of accessibility workshops, and this was followed by a keynote session led by Simon Sung, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe, and Jinsoo Kim, Head of the Samsung Accessibility Committee, who shared the company’s accessibility strategy and vision for inclusive innovation.

A recent study by Samsung UK and OnePoll revealed that over two-thirds (68%) of UK adults with disabilities feel excluded from products and services due to accessibility issues, highlighting a significant gap in mainstream brands’ efforts to cater to diverse needs. 80% of respondents believe brands are missing out by neglecting inclusive design, while 72% have abandoned purchases due to inaccessible design.

Speaking on this week’s activity of events, Charlotte Grant, Head of People Experience, Samsung UK, said: “At Samsung, we are proud of our ongoing commitment to increasing the accessibility of experiences through our innovation and we were delighted to partner with GN and Ampetronic to showcase Auracast at St Paul’s Cathedral. It was fantastic to take people through a innovative experience with inclusive technology  and a great way to end our Accessibility Festival Week in the UK. We are committed to directly involving our customers and employees in our decision-making by taking on their feedback to improve our products and services, and help support our mission to inspire a culture of inclusive design across our organisation, into our products and beyond.”

To read more about Samsung’s commitment to accessibility, please visit: Accessibility | Samsung UK

About GN

GN brings people closer through our leading intelligent hearing, audio, video, and gaming solutions. Inspired by people and driven by innovation, we deliver technologies that enhance the senses of hearing and sight. We help people with hearing loss overcome real-life challenges, improve communication and collaboration for businesses, and provide great experiences for audio and gaming enthusiasts.

GN was founded more than 150 years ago with a vision to connect the world. Today, inspired by our strong heritage, GN touches more lives than ever with our unique expertise and the broadest portfolio of products and services in our history – bringing people closer to what is important to them.

We market our solutions with the brands Jabra, ReSound, SteelSeries, Beltone, Interton, BlueParrott, Danavox, and FalCom in 100 countries. Founded in 1869, GN Group employs more than 7,000 people and is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (GN.CO).

Visit GN.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and  X.

Image of 14 Samsung colleagues including VP Jeong-sook Lee (VP of Experience Planning Group, MX Business, Samsung UK) smiling and standing together on the Samsung KX stage for the Samsung Supporters event

LONDON, UK – May 16, 2024, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Samsung and members of RNIB and RNID gathered at Samsung KX to launch its first Samsung Supporter’s group in the UK, focused on feedback from customers to drive innovation in accessibility features on Samsung devices.

Over 40 people were in attendance as leaders from Samsung including VP Jeong-sook Lee (VP of Experience Planning Group, MX Business, Samsung UK) and Mikael Fodor (Senior UX Researcher, MQA UX CXI Part, Samsung R&D Institute UK) took to the stage. The event covered a range of topics including Samsung’s progress so far in bringing more accessible features to its products, and how customers can report or feedback on accessibility improvements.

“With continued advancements in technology, we’re looking at how we can use these to improve the accessibility of our products. Our collaboration at Samsung with partners such as RNID and RNIB is vital in getting expert, invaluable feedback for our product and engineering teams in order to achieve this goal,” said Richard Moreton, Technology Standardisation, Business Development & Industrial Affairs, Samsung R&D Insitute UK.

Samsung, RNID and RNIB have a long history of working together to make sure its consumer products are accessible to as many people as possible. Samsung is striving to create enjoyable experiences for everyone, for example on its industry-leading TVs. Samsung’s Smart TVs have earned RNIB’s “Tried and Tested” Certification, which is awarded to products based on their suitability for people who are blind or partially sighted. Not only does this certification help guide consumer purchasing decisions, but it also holds manufacturers accountable to design products with all users in mind.

To find out more about how Samsung is making products more accessible, visit: https://www.samsung.com/uk/sustainability/accessibility/overview/

Making Technology More Accessible and Inclusive

Previously available at three levels of customisation, the updated Ambient Sound feature—which gives users the ability to listen to and stay aware of their surroundings—now adds two additional levels, offering five levels of amplification^[1] and providing the benefit of improved hearing to even more users.

To assess the feature’s efficacy^[2], a clinical trial was undertaken by the University of Iowa’s Hearing Aid and Aging Research Laboratory. Their research concluded that Galaxy Buds2 Pro significantly improved speech perception in those with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. A similar trial conducted by Samsung Medical Center also found that the Galaxy Buds2 Pro could be an effective tool to help those with mild-to-moderate hearing loss to better communicate in a quiet place.

Bringing New Levels to Audio Customisation

With this improved feature, Galaxy Buds2 Pro users can also fine tune their Ambient Sound settings across a variety of needs. Users can adjust the volumes on the left and the right respectively, as well as customise their Ambient Sound tone range from soft to clear across five different stages. Additionally, Ambient Sound can tune to users’ ears through the Adapt Ambient Sound feature, allowing for even more clarity in helping users hear the world around them better.

“We are excited to be introducing the new enhanced accessibility feature of the Galaxy Buds2 Pro to users on Global Accessibility Awareness Day,” said Han-gil Moon, Master and Head of Advanced Audio Lab, MX Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to work to help each and every user experience the best possible audio anytime, anywhere with their Galaxy Buds2 Pro.”

Availability

The enhanced Ambient Sound feature will be progressively released on Galaxy Buds2 Pro via software updates in coming weeks^[3].

[1] Accessed in the Laboratory menu under Earbuds settings in the Galaxy Wearable app.

[2] Clinical trials by the University of Iowa and Samsung Medical Center were conducted with the Ambient Sound feature at its maximum level (Level 5).

[3] Galaxy Wearable app required – compatible with Android smartphones & tablets running Android 5.0 & above with at least 1.5GB RAM”