Pindrop Hearing Centres to Offer New Oticon Opn™ Technology: The World’s First Internet Connected Hearing Aid With Precise Sound Processing That Reduces Stress on the Brain
Pindrop Hearing Centres has announced that it will begin offering its patients Oticon Opn™, a breakthrough technology that offers two wireless communications systems in one and is the world’s first Internet-connected hearing aid, on June 6.
The new Oticon Opn™, hearing aids are proven to enable people with hearing loss to experience 20% less listening effort, remember 20% more and enjoy 30% better speech understanding.
“Technological limitations of current hearing aids have led to the use of tunnel directionality: Speech coming from the front is clear, whereas the rest of the sound environment is suppressed,” said Doctor of Audiology, David Patterson, Au.D., R.Aud, Aud(c) and Director of Audiology for Pindrop Hearing Centres across Canada. “This results in a limited, narrowed and artificial listening experience.”
The new Oticon Opn™ is fast and precise enough to analyze and follow the soundscape and differentiate between sounds. Even in complex listening environments, this allows Oticon Opn™ to constantly open up and balance individual sounds to deliver a rich and meaningful soundscape, empowering the brain to choose on which sounds to focus.
“Users can now focus on a conversation while staying attentive to people and things around them and switch focus quickly and easily,” said Patterson. “Traditional directionality has become a thing of the past and users can communicate more effectively and be more socially active, all while being connected to the Internet. It’s ground breaking technology. We are very excited to be offering this robust solution to our clients.”
Powered by the ultra-fast and precise Velox™ platform, the newest BrainHearing™ solution from Oticon employs an ”open sound” approach, expertly managing multiple speech and noise sources, even in complex listening situations. The new OpenSound Navigator™ scans the environment 100 times per second to analyze and balance every sound individually. Environmental sounds are accessible but not disturbing.
“Oticon Opn™ is the first hearing aid proven to make it easier on the brain,” said Don Schum, PhD, Vice President of Audiology and Professional Relations for Oticon, Inc. “In testing using pupillometry, a well-recognized measure of stress on the brain, Opn users experienced 20% less listening effort when trying to understand speech. Additional studies show that because Oticon Opn users have freed up mental resources, they are able to remember 20% more of what is said. Testing also shows that Opn increases speech understanding, the parameter most important to users, by 30% over other Oticon hearing solutions.”
The New Velox Platform: Ultra-Fast and Precise Sound Processing
Designed specifically for hearing aids, the Velox platform is a powerhouse of groundbreaking features. The tiny chip has the extreme speed needed to manage multiple sound sources, analyzing and processing sound data 50 times faster than before. Market-leading 64-band frequency resolution enables a more precise sound analysis and better sound quality to support the brain’s ability to make sense of sound.
The new OpenSound Navigator scans, analyzes and reacts to sounds in the environment more than 100 times per second. Thanks to this superior processing power, Opn is able to continually analyze and balance sounds, removing noise, even between words. Users can now follow the sounds they want to hear and shift attention when desired. Surrounding sounds are available but not intrusive so users can focus on the sounds they want to hear even in noisy situations.
Industry First: Two Wireless Communication Systems in One Hearing Aid
Opn is the industry’s first hearing solution to offer TwinLink™ technology, two wireless communication systems in one hearing solution. Power-efficient near-field magnetic communication (NFMI) in one dedicated system is optimized for binaural ear-to-ear communication. Users enjoy high quality sound for better listening in all environments with very low power consumption. A second dedicated system uses 2.4GHz Bluetooth direct streaming for wireless streamer-free communication to smartphones and other devices. Developed specifically for hearing aids, this variant of Bluetooth uses significantly less battery power when streaming.
The free, downloadable Oticon ON App allows users discreet control of their Opn hearing aids as well as other internet-connected solutions.
World’s First Internet Connected Hearing Aid
Opn is the world’s first hearing aid that connects to the internet via If This Then That (IFTTT.com), a web service that automates other web-based functions to make life easier. Users can connect to a wide range of IFTTT-enabled devices used in everyday life such as door bells, baby monitors and thermostats. Opn provides users with a solution that will enable them to use their hearing aids with a growing number of IFTTT-compatible products and services as they become available.
Pindrop Hearing Centres will begin providing its clients with this innovative and ground breaking new technology at all locations across Canada starting on June 6.
For more information please contact Pindrop Hearing Centres.
