Oticon Medical said today it launched the Oticon Opn hearing aid which can connect to mobile phones and other external devices to stream audio, and the company claims is the 1st which can be “connected to the internet of things.”
The Somerset, N.J.-based company says the newly released hearing aid features a 30% improvement in speech understanding over the previous generation device, a 20% improvement in conversation recall and a 20% reduction in listening effort.
“Hearing loss is an invisible condition that affects tens of millions of Americans and their families in very visible ways, making every-day events like dinner conversations very difficult and promoting misunderstanding, feelings of isolation and cognitive decline. We are proud to bring the most technologically advanced hearing solution to people with hearing loss and their families with Oticon Opn. Never before has there been a hearing device this powerful and this small that allows sound to reach the brain as precisely and accurately as Opn. By making it easier on the brain, Opn decreases listening effort even in environments that are challenging for people with hearing loss, so they have more energy to follow the conversation and remember what is said,” prez Peer Lauritsen said in prepared remarks.
Oticon Medical said the Opn is designed with 2 internal wireless communication systems to allow each hearing aid to talk to each other to create more natural sound amplification as well as connect to external Bluetooth devices.
“Oticon is the only hearing device manufacturer that develops, engineers and builds its pioneering technologies in-house. We never compromise on the audiological benefits of our hearing solutions to ensure that full sound processing, amplification and compression technologies work seamlessly together to maintain the finest detail of sound,” audiology and professional relations veep Don Schum said in a press release.
