- Sonova launches Phonak Audéo Infinio and Audéo Sphere Infinio, introducing real-time AI-based technology in hearing aids.
- The new Phonak ERA chip enhances sound quality, power management, and Bluetooth connectivity, reducing listening effort and fatigue.
- Audéo Sphere Infinio, featuring dual-chip AI technology, achieves a 10dB improvement in Signal-to-Noise Ratio, significantly enhancing speech understanding in noisy environments.
Switzerland’s Sonova announced the launch of two new Phonak platforms on Tuesday: Audéo Infinio and Audéo Sphere Infinio. These hearing aids mark the beginning of a new era with real-time AI-based technology
If successful, this would be a major healthcare advancement over the conventional hearing aids, which typically just evenly raises all surrounding noise instead of helping users distinguish individual voices or sounds.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that 430 million people globally suffer from hearing loss, a number projected to reach 700 million, or 1 in 10 people, by 2050.
“Solving the speech-in-noise problem is the long-standing goal of modern hearing aid development and essential to improving the quality of life of millions of people with hearing loss,” said Sonova Group’s CEO Arnd Kaldowski.
The Phonak Infinio platform is powered by the new ultra-responsive Phonak ERA chip, which sets new standards for sound quality, power management, and connectivity. This chip reduces listening effort and fatigue for users and significantly extends Bluetooth connection reach.
On the other hand, Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio is the first hearing aid to use dual-chip AI technology. It features the ERA chip and DEEPSONIC, a real-time artificial intelligence (AI)/Deep Neural Network (AI/DNN) chip developed by Sonova.
This advancement achieves a 10dB improvement in Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) which significantly improves speech understanding in background noise, tackling the long-standing “speech-in-noise” issue.
Robert Woolley, Group Vice President Hearing Instruments at Sonova, stated that the company is incredibly excited to bring the Audéo Sphere Infinio to users, describing it as more than just a hearing aid and a game-changer for those struggling with hearing in noisy environments.
Edited by Harshajit Sarmah
