Innovative hearing aid can understand the wearer’s listening intentions and respond accordingly

Hearing aid specialist Oticon has launched Oticon Intent, a new hearing aid that can understand the user’s listening intentions and respond accordingly.

Oticon Intent incorporates “ground-breaking”4D Sensor technology, which can understand what users want and need to listen to and adapts the support it provides seamlessly to individual needs.

Oticon’s BrainHearing technology is based on how the brain works to make sense of sound. According to the manufacturer, new BrainHearing insights show that head and body movement gives important information about what is most crucial for hearing aid users to hear at a given moment.

These insights informed the development of the new 4D Sensor technology embedded in Oticon Intent to ensure the brain has all the details it needs.

Oticon says that while being physically active, it is necessary to be aware of surroundings to understand them and move around safely. In conversation, users tend to keep their heads still to engage with a single person or move their heads in a group conversation to engage with different people. When struggling to hear what someone is saying, users are likely to lean in to listen.

Oticon Intent combines all these inputs to understand the hearing aid user’s listening intentions and adapt accordingly.

“BrainHearing is central to everything we do because sound is a vital source of stimulation for the brain,” said Thomas Behrens, Vice President of Audiology at Oticon. “If you have hearing loss, you can actually protect your brain from cognitive decline by using active hearing aids which enable you to connect with others and let you engage in life to the fullest.

“With Oticon Intent we ensure hearing takes less effort and that you can communicate with ease in any situation. You can also enjoy future-proof, next-generation connectivity technology, crafted into the smallest form factor we have designed to date within this category.

“We are confident that with Oticon Intent, you will be able to seamlessly engage in life and the digital world like never before.”

In noisy environments, Oticon Intent enables users to move through a crowd with awareness, while orienting to the surrounding sounds; begin chatting with a group of people, due to heightened access to voices and balanced background sounds so they are not bothering, while still accessible; and start a more intimate conversation with one person, gaining full access to the speaker’s voice amidst the noise all around.

The assistive technology incorporates LE Audio Bluetooth, delivering easy connection to more smart devices and allowing for a detailed, high-quality sound experience for hands-free calls and direct streaming of music, audio books, and more.

Users can easily answer calls by double-tabbing the hearing aid. Oticon Intent also provides more than a full day’s battery life with two hours of charge.

Read about the award-winning assistive technology innovations from CES 2024 here.