Oticon is a Danish manufacturer of hearing aids, founded in 1904 in Denmark. The root of their “People first” mission began when the company’s founder, Hans Demant, traveled to England to purchase hearing aids for his wife in 1903. Committed to improving the lives of people who were hard of hearing in Denmark, Demant began to import hearing aids shortly thereafter. Demant’s son William transformed the business into the design and manufacturing of hearing aids after he took the helm. Oticon manufactured their first hearing aid model during World War II and continues to create technology to serve people today.
BrainHearing Technology
With research from their sister institution, Ericksholm, Oticon has developed and advanced BrainHearing technology based on the process by which the brain hears. With normal hearing, sound waves enter the ear and are translated into neural signals in the inner ear which are sent to the brain to be processed as sound.
Hearing loss muddles sound signals from the outset and by the time they reach the brain, it is difficult for the brain to make sense of the sounds.
Essentially, BrainHearing technology assists the brain with the hearing process. Powered by the fast Inium processing platform, BrainHearing consists of four main features: Spatial Sound, Free Focus, Speech Guard E and YouMatic. Spatial Sound and Free Focus enhance the brain’s ability to sense the direction from which sounds originate and assist wearers in focusing and zooming in on sounds they want to hear. Speech Guard E improves speech recognition, especially in noisy environments and difficult listening situations, such as busy restaurants or in conversation with multiple speakers. YouMatic allows wearers to personalize their listening experience for a natural sound.
Wireless Connectivity
Oticon hearing aids provide wireless connectivity to smartphones, TVs, remote microphones, and other electronic devices. The ConnectLine wireless system enables wearers to connect to their phones, in order to stream phone calls directly to their hearing aids. Wearers may also stream media, music, and video chats to their aids as well.
Oticon hearing aids also come with a key-sized remote, which allows wearers to adjust settings and volume and switch between programs with discretion and ease.
Other Features and Styles
Oticon hearing aids are available in six families: Intent, Real, More, Own, Zircon and Xceed. All families are available in various styles: behind-the-ear, in-the-ear, completely-in-canal, and invisible-in-canal. Oticon hearing aids are fully customizable and offer a diversity of feature combinations to meet specific hearing needs. With sleek and discreet designs, Oticon hearing aids are housed in a moisture and debris resistant shell, to protect the electronic components from the elements and dust. Oticon hearing aids also offer tinnitus therapy.
