Oticon has announced the launch of the “world’s first” hearing aid with an on-board deep neural network (DNN).
The Danish company’s “revolutionary” Oticon More device was trained using 12 million real-life sound scenes, and allows its user to process sound in a more natural way.
The intelligent machine learning method – known as a DNN – deployed in the new hearing aid has learned to recognise sounds from around the world, their details, and how they should ideally sound to support the human brain, rather than simply improving hearing from one direction.
And, in addition to its “superior audiological performance”, which is made possible by an entirely new chipset known as Polaris, the Oticon More is directly compatible with iOS and Android devices alike.
Mark Collins, sales and marketing director at Oticon, said: “Through years of innovation, research and collaboration with leading research institutions around the world, Oticon has built a unique knowledge and understanding of how the brain perceives sound.
“Contrary to common belief, research has demonstrated that the brain needs access to all sounds in the environment to function optimally.
“By applying this knowledge to hearing technology, we enable hearing aid users to enjoy more complete sound landscapes and simply get more out of life when they use our products, which can have significant positive effects on their health and well-being.
“As always, we are committed to delivering life-changing hearing health and technology to people living with hearing loss, and Oticon More is a prime example of just how we can do so. It is time for a new perspective in hearing care, and Oticon More is the solution.”
New Oticon More hearing aid
Oticon claims the new Polaris chipset that powers its latest hearing aid enables more speed, precision and capacity than the company has ever provided before – and is powerful enough to constantly run its trained DNN.
Polaris boasts an eight-fold increase in memory and twice the processing power compared to Oticon’s previous-generation chipset.
As well as being compatible with both iOS and Android devices, the Oticon More is prepared for the next generation of connectivity based on the upcoming Bluetooth LE Audio standard.
Internet connectivity and the Oticon ON smartphone app will also give the hearing aid’s users access to convenient, personalised control of their devices – alongside convenient online aftercare with remote access to hearing care professionals.
Lastly, the Oticon More is rechargeable, providing a full day of battery life – including streaming – and takes just three hours to be fully charged.
