Oticon To Double The Processing Power Of Its Hearing Aids With New Flagship ‘Agil’ Family

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.

Hearing Aid Technology Is Finally Going To Work In Hearing Protection Market

For a long time, the standard in hearing protection for the military, police and workers in noisy industrial environments was little more than a set of ill-fitting ear plugs. But blocking your hearing is often more dangerous than potentially losing it in noisy environments where inability to hear your colleague’s voices or failure to hear warnings of an imminent threat can put you in harm’s way. It’s no surprise, then, that hearing loss among soldiers who don’t wear their earplugs because they don’t feel safe not being able to hear what’s going on around them has become one of the biggest problems for veterans of the Irag war and other conflicts. That’s why it’s gratifying to see hearing-aid manufacturers have finally start applying advanced hearing enhancement and hearing protection technology to the problem of environmental noise. Phonak is the latest manufacturer to come up with an advanced hearing system for people trying to get their jobs done in noisy and dangerous environments, and it integrates some impressive technology.

The new Phonak primero DPC boomless radio headset features “dynamic hearing protection.” Custom ear molds that sit in the user’s ears integrate wireless technology which measures and dampens environmental noise while enhancing speech tones. The sound-dampening completely protects users from load blasts or noise from heavy machinery while enabling them to continue speaking with others over a wireless link. A tiny microphone integrated within the ear jack and an innovative signal processing algorithm pick up the user’s voice from inside the ear canal. This allows the user to be heard by others over the wireless link more clearly than with previous technologies. Designed with teams such as rapid intervention, SWAT, police, emergency and homeland security professionals in mind, the primero DPC system raises the bar of safe radio communications by enabling conversation in noise of up to 115dB with hearing protection guaranteed even when loud ‘impulse’ noises such as shots or crashes occur.

By integrating both hearing enhancement AND protection, Phonak’s new system is leading the charge for a new class of products that put sophisticated hearing aid technology to work in a market for hearing-protection systems that is potentially even larger than the global market for hearing aids.

Feel Good Department: Super Bowl Heroes Drew And Brittany Brees Give Big Assist To Hearing Protection Advocacy

Credit Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees and his wife and partner-in-parenting Brittany with the biggest assist of the year for hearing protection advocacy. The feel-good story of the afternoon was when the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback shared a special moment with his year-old son Baylen just before hoisting the Lombardi trophy in front of 70,000 fans and millions of TV viewers. The first question out of many viewers’ mouths was, “What’s with the headphones?” Drew and Brittany let everyone who asked know that the huge hearing-protection headset covering little Baylen’s ears has been standard issue since their son attended his first game at the tender age of three weeks. The New York Times parenting blog captured the moment beautifully, giving both parents an A+ for putting their son’s precious hearing first. Now here’s a question: who was the manufacturer of that hearing-protection headset? I can’t tell the brand or model from the pictures. Whoever it is now has the world’s most valuable product endorsement!

02/11/2010 UPDATE: This just in–a Hearing Mojo reader named bob has identified Peltor as the maker of Baby Baylen’s hearing-protection headset. Inc. Magazine got on the story quickly. Peltor, located in the home town of the Indianapolis Colts, apparently had no idea their Peltor Junior Earmuffs would be getting such a great endorsement. For more on Peltor see our previous story on Peltor’s hearing protection headsets.