HearingFitness™ by Oticon is a new tool designed to help people with hearing loss understand how they can optimise their behavior and hearing health habits in order to take full advantage of their hearing aid. But more than that, it is a modern discovery tool to spark invention, development and ultimately, progression of hearing technology and healthcare.
Just like an exercise App, the new hearing fitness technology, which is an integral feature of Oticon’s proprietary ON App, available in the App store for its internet-connected hearing aids, gathers real-world data and gives users the benefit of taking greater ownership of their hearing treatment. Users can not only track how long they have been wearing their hearing aids, receiving nudges and notifications, they can also track the noise levels they are frequently exposed to. Enabling a user to track how long they wear their hearing aid, as well as regular encouragement to do so, is for example, useful for first time users as they can often find it difficult to adapt to wearing a hearing aid. Through simple promotion of continued use, first time users are more likely to accept and keep using their hearing aid.
By engaging and encouraging users to be active partners in their healthcare, HearingFitness™ enables a more personalised hearing care. With informed decisions, users will be able to optimise their hearing aids to their specific, individual and changing needs and sound environments. It is the start of data-driven hearing care and yet another example of Oticon’s ability to revolutionise the way modern technology can benefit hearing aid users.
However, HearingFitness™ users will not only benefit from features to help them maintain their hearing health now, they will also be part of Oticon’s larger vision, to always be at the cutting edge of hearing aid development. The real-life data collected from the HearingFitness™ app will be part of the development of future Oticon hearing aids.
User data analysis to improve customer experiences is used the world over. Oticon will utilise this tried and proven method in order to gather the most authentic information to develop the hearing aid technologies of tomorrow. Bycombining real-time hearing aid data with lifestyle and healthcare big data analytics, HearingFitness™ will evolve and improve a user’s hearing solution according to their personal habits. The possibilities are endless.
“Our vision is to understand how to consistently advance the way hearing aids can integrate into and improve everyday life,” says Ole Asboe Jørgensen, President, Oticon Brand, Global. “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[i]. 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,” concludes Ole Asboe Jørgensen.
Oticon has been able to take this step into e-health technology thanks to the connectivity capability of the OticonOpn™ hearing aid. Opn is the world’s first internet-connected hearing aid, and already sees users enjoying communication between their hearing aid and a wealth of lifestyle enhancing IoT devices via the IFTTT network. All users of Oticon’s current and future internet-connected hearing aids, via Oticon’s ON App, will have the additional benefit of tracking their hearing health with HearingFitness™ and will help to shape the evolution of hearing aids for tomorrow and for future generations.
