Oticon's HearingFitness App Wins 2018 CES Award

Have you been wondering if your hearing aid is doing everything it can to help you hear, or if there’s anything else you need to know about your hearing health? Oticon has just released an exciting new app called the HearingFitness App that’s designed to help you get your ears in shape, and make sure your hearing aids are simplifying your life. The experts all love this revolutionary new technology, and the HearingFitness app recently won a 2018 CES Innovation Award.

How the App Works

If you’ve been wanting to learn more about your health and your hearing health, then this astounding new technology is for you. The HearingFitness App is the first of its kind dedicated to hearing fitness and helping you hear. Working with Oticon’s Opn line of hearing devices, the app tracks data on your hearing health, like how much you wear your hearing aid, your listening environments, and your listening fatigue.

Not only does the app track your hearing, it also collects data on a host of other health measurements, such as sleep cycles, heart rate, and activity levels. This means that by using a single app you’ll have a clear understanding of your overall health and wellbeing. Tracking these health markers means you’ll be able to see what needs improvement, and where you’re already healthy.

Brain First Technology

One of the things that makes Oticon so unique is their brain-first approach to hearing loss. Rather than focusing on hearing loss at the level of the ear, they design hearing devices that help the brain hear better, reduce listening fatigue, and make sounds as natural as possible. Their BrainHearing technology, developed by researchers at the Eriksholm Research Centre, is designed to help the brain hear so that you can have energy to participate in the conversation without worrying about your hearing. The hearing aids analyze all the sounds around you, determine which sounds are important, and help you focus on what you want to hear. The HearingFitness App will also help Oticon further improve their hearing technology by sending data from the app back to Oticon for analysis of hearing aid use as well as user feedback.

Providing Encouragement

The app doesn’t just tell you about your health, it also provides valuable suggestions for ways to improve your hearing and your health. Using the app will help you hear better, know when you need to protect your hearing, and encourage you to make healthier choices.

Linking Dementia and Hearing Loss

Recent research has been discovering clear links between untreated hearing loss and dementia, and this is one of the factors that inspired the HearingFitness App. Living with untreated hearing loss is known to cause rapid cognitive decline. Those with hearing loss often face social isolation, choosing to stay home alone rather than go out with friends where they can’t follow conversations with all the background noise, and often feel upset or embarrassed when they aren’t able to understand what’s being said. As Don Schum, Vice President of Audiology at Oticon points out, “a growing body of evidence is indicating that the social isolation brought on by untreated hearing loss is a big risk factor for dementia and that hearing aids may well help minimize that impact.” One way the HearingFitness App can help is to “encourage routine use of hearing aids and empower users with the feedback they need to take charge of their long-term health and well-being through healthy hearing habits today,” says Schum.

Winning a CES Innovation Award

Receiving a CES Innovation Award is high praise for the HearingFitness App, proving that Oticon is a global contender when it comes to leading consumer technologies. They exhibited at the CES 2018 showcase in January in Las Vegas, among the consumer electronics housed in a gallery for the 2018 award honorees.

Get your Hearing Device Today

Are you ready to try out Oticon’s newest technology for yourself? Visit us at Hearing Consultants to learn more about how Oticon’s HearingFitness App could change your life. We’ll do a hearing assessment, then work with you to find the hearing device that’s right for you. Start using the HearingFitness App today, get the most out of your hearing, and make the choice to improve your health.