William Demant Holding Group’s Oticon hearing-aid brand is getting ready to introduce a new line of hearing aids with twice the processing power of its current flagship family and a new set of sound processing algorithms that the Denmark company claims will substantially improve users’ comprehension of speech in noise. Oticon’s new Agil family will be formally launched in March and be shown for the first time at the American Academy of Audiology convention in San Diego in April. The Agil family will serve a broad range of hearing needs from moderate to severe hearing loss and will come in form factors ranging from behind-the-ear (BTE) to receiver in the ear (RITE). Oticon is promoting two innovations enabled by the more powerful processing platform: Speech Guard and Spatial Sound 2.0.
Oticon says Speech Guard is based on a new wireless platform with twice the calculation power of its current flagship Oticon Epoq family. It includes a new processing kernel that it says will preserve signal fidelity–quality of sound, especially human voices–far more effectively than in the past. At the same time, Spatial Sound 2.0, a “spatial noise management system” that “maintains natural acoustic cues.” The platform integrates seamlessly with the Oticon ConnectLine wireless listening system.
“With Oticon Agil,we have virtually improved all the advanced features already available in Oticon Epoq,” William Demant Holding President and CEO Niels Jacobsen said in a statement to investors. “Our almost three years of everyday experience with wireless audiology and connectivity has given us valuable insights enabling us to bring forward a significantly better hearing solution.” Among those insights is the fact that better comprehension of speech based on more natural processing of spatial sound reduces the cognitive “overhead” required to understand speech, enabling hearing-aid users to better understand speech with less stress, Oticon said. The company said it is focused on new research showing that struggles to comprehend speech can significantly increase fatigue and impair performance of everyday activities in ways that lead directly to loss of income.
Every few years the major global hearing-aid manufacturers release their new processing platforms, promising to deliver breakthroughs in comprehension of speech in noise. It’s gratifying to see a major manufacturer linking its new product platform so tightly to new research on how hearing loss directly effects people’s health and incomes.
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One response to “Oticon To Double The Processing Power Of Its Hearing Aids With New Flagship 'Agil' Family”
I’m an audiologist in Maryland, and I just ordered my first set of Agils. There are a lot of manufacturer’s announcing new products, since the American Academy of Audiologist convention is right around the corner. It seems like Oticon was able to get their product out a little earlier than most. I was already impressed with the spatial sound features of the Oticon product line, and I’m anxious to see how their new noise reduction algorithm performs.