World’s first hearing fitness tracking technology launched for people with hearing difficulties
Hearing aid specialist Oticon has released a new tool called HearingFitness which aims to help people with hearing loss understand how they can optimise their behaviour and hearing health habits in order to take full advantage of their hearing aid.
Oticon hopes that its new innovation will encourage future development and progression of hearing technology and healthcare.
The new hearing fitness technology works like an exercise app by gathering real-world data and allows users to take greater ownership of their hearing treatment. Users can monitor how long they have been wearing their hearing aids, receive nudges and notifications, and track the noise levels they are frequently exposed to.
Additionally, the technology regularly encourages users to wear their hearing aid, which Oticon says will make people more likely to accept and keep using their hearing device.
As HearingFitness tracks user’s data, it offers a more personalised hearing care experience. With informed decisions, users can optimise their hearing aids to their specific, individual and changing needs and sound environments.
Oticon will collect the real-life data from HearingFitness to help develop and improve future hearing aid technology. By combining real-time hearing aid data with lifestyle and healthcare big data analytics, HearingFitness sets out to improve a user’s hearing solution according to their personal habits.
Ole Asboe Jørgensen, President at Oticon Global, said: “Our vision is to understand how to consistently advance the way hearing aids can integrate into and improve everyday life.
“Ultimately, we want our users to wear their hearing aids more. Especially considering evidence which demonstrates that actively wearing aids, to help ease and encourage social interaction, may potentially delay cognitive decline, including dementia.
“With a detailed picture of how hearing aid wearers use their instruments in the real-world, we will be even more equipped to dynamically develop hearing aid features and technologies.
“And the potential of collating so much real-life user information is phenomenal, whether in two years or ten years’ time, HearingFitness has the potential to unlock hearing enhancements that haven’t yet even been considered.”
Oticon’s move into e-healthy technology has been possible due to its Opn hearing aid, the world’s first internet-connected hearing aid. Opn allows users to communicate between their hearing aid and a range of Internet of Things (IoT) devices via the IFTTT network.
A manufacturer of hearing aids for both adults and children, Oticon creates products to support hearing loss from mild to severe.