Updates in Hearing Aid Tech: Oticons New AI Assistant For Hearing Aids

Here at Hearing Associates of Las Vegas, we like to keep an eye on the latest hearing technology advancements so we can provide our clients with the best options possible. And 2019 is starting out strong with the hearing aid manufacturer Oticon putting out a brand-new AI assistant that helps maximize the usefulness of your hearing aids.  

Introducing Oticon Kaizen, Your New AI Hearing Aid Assistant

As hearing aids become increasingly technologically advanced, it is no surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) assistants are starting to become bundled into these specialized devices. Oticon introduced the first hearing aid AI assistant—Oticon Kaizen—to great acclaim, winning a CES Best of Innovation Award in the Software and Mobile Apps category and also has been deemed the CES Innovation Honoree in the Tech for a Better World category.

But what exactly is Kaizen? Well, this AI assistant will reside in your Oticon hearing aids and learn about your habits, listening preferences, what sound environments you tend to be in, and how often you wear your hearing aids. All this learning is done as you wear your hearing aids.

With the information Kaizen gathers about your hearing needs, it will actively adapt without input needed from you. It will also solicit that you input your hearing preferences to actively help you have the best hearing experience at all times.

There have been other hearing aid artificial intelligence creations from other hearing aid manufacturers such as Widex’s EVOKE hearing aids and Starkey’s Livio AI, both of which aim to do what Kaizen does—actively learn and implement your hearing preferences. However, one of the key differences between them and Kaizen is that the Oticon AI will send out push notifications as you change sound environments to actively assess whether or not your hearing needs are being met.

How Oticon Kaizen Can Help You

So, while all this sounds good, it can be a little tough to imagine how Kaizen will help you on a day-to-day basis. While Oticon has not released Kaizen to the public, we do know what Oticon aims for Kaizen to do for users.

So, say you are wearing your Oticon Kaizen hearing aids, and you go from the relative quiet of your car and enter a noisy restaurant to meet up with friends. Rather than have to fiddle with your hearing aids to adjust them to a comfortable level, Kaizen will recognize the change in listening environment and send a push notification to your phone, asking about your listening preference. Depending on what you choose, Kaizen will change your hearing aids for you.

The AI will also remember your preference and automatically change as you enter similar environments. It will also detect how long and when you wear your hearing aids and provide insights on what you could do to improve your hearing.

If you would like to learn more about Oticon Kaizen-enabled hearing aids or other types of hearing aids, feel free to contact us. Our hearing instrument specialists will be happy to discuss your options with you and consult you on how which hearing aids will suit your needs best.