In February 2023, we launched our most advanced hearing aid yet: Oticon Real™.
Built on an enhanced microchip platform, Polaris R™, Oticon Real™ hearing aids continue the journey of open sound that Oticon have been on since they released the Opn, back in 2016.
The Opn (2016) was designed to open up the sound scene, to give users a 360° sound experience. The Opn S (2019) gave users an improved experience, designed to focus on the sounds users wanted to hear. And the Oticon More™ (2021) was the first hearing aid to feature a Deep Neural Network (DNN) on the chip, utilising artificial intelligence for an even more natural listening experience.
The Oticon Real™ goes one step further.
Because in the past, hearing aid wearers have always had to contend with two major hindrances: noise from the wind and general handling, and sudden sounds.
Oticon Real combats both.
With double-patented, new hearing aid technology, the new Wind & Handling Stabilizer in Oticon Real™ immediately detects and cleans up the sound signal. It scans the environment up to 500-times per second, giving you the support you need for a comfortable listening experience. This new technology helps give you both clear contrast and better access to speech.
Wind noise reduction
As hearing aid users know, wind is unpredictable and irregular.
So to test how Oticon Real™ handled wind, researchers carried out a technical and clinical test in one of the largest wind tunnels in the world, providing one of the toughest and most controlled environments for hearing aidsi.
Hearing aid users blindly tested Oticon Real™ against two leading competitor hearing aids, and the results show that with Oticon Real™ hearing aids, there is both a reduction in wind noise (22% less loud than a competitor), and speech clarity improves (17% clearer in wind than a competitor).
Neither competitor hearing aid can handle these two challenges simultaneously. This is where the new Oticon Real™ technology excels.
Suppressing everyday handling sounds
And it’s not just against wind noise that Oticon Real™ shines. It also vastly outperforms competitors in reducing another concern for hearing aid users: handling noisei. Putting on a jumper, going in for a hug, adjusting your glasses or hair – all of these minor, everyday actions might seem insignificant, but they can be picked up by your hearing aids’ microphones and cause unwanted, disruptive handling noise.
In a clinical investigation, measuring the effects of touch, the handling noise in Oticon Real™ is up to 19dB lower than competitors, a big impact for hearing aid users, 93% of whom wear glassesi.
Reducing sudden sound disruption
We’re subjected to hundreds of thousands of sounds, every single day. Sudden sounds can interrupt our listening experience and can be uncomfortable if you wear hearing aids. The slamming of a door, the clatter of cutlery, even the clicking of a pen – there are some sudden sounds that we don’t necessarily want or need to hear.
The SuddenSound Stabilizer technology inside the Oticon Real can handle more than 500,000 sudden sounds during a typical day, and it dynamically and instantly reduces and releases gain (the ratio of input vs output volume), as the sounds occur, with no impact on speech understanding.
In a clinical study, Oticon researchers demonstrated that when the SuddenSound Stabilizer was activated, listening effort was reduced by a significant 22%ii. When presented with a series of sentences, interrupted by sudden soft and loud sounds, participants were able to stay engaged in the activity, even in a challenging listening environmenti.
Find out what the latest hearing aid technology will do for you
Oticon Real™ is now available at Hidden Hearing. Follow the link to find out more about what this next-generation, latest hearing aid technology could do for you and your hearing.
Or, to try Oticon Real™ in one of our clinics, you can book your free, no-obligation hearing test today.
i Gade, P., Brændgaard, M., Flocken, H., Preszcator, D., & Santurette, S. (2023). Wind & Handling Stabilizer – Evidence and user benefits. Oticon Whitepaper.
ii Based on a 22% reduced mean pupil size as compared to the highest mean pupil size