Top Red Dot design awards for stellar Phonak and Oticon products

Internationally recognised Red Dot design awards are also going to Denmark’s Oticon (Demant) for its More hearing aid, and again to Sonova for its Phonak Roger On remote microphone. All these awards came in the Healthcare Product Design category.

Although full celebrations of all category winners in these awards will not be celebrated until the Red Dot Design Week, June 21 to 25, the organisers have begun to release results of winners decided on by the jury of some 50 international experts who test and debate all entries individually. The Healthcare category lists close to 50 winners worldwide, ranging from designs for rehab robots to virus filtration masks.

One of just two Best of the Best winners on the Red Dot Healthcare list (the other is for a bionic prosthesis hand), Phonak Marvel Virto Black was launched in January 2020 at the renowned CES technology show in Las Vegas.

The Roger On remote microphone will be released in summer, 2021, and will feature enhanced technology and an improved pointing mode that allows the user to zoom in on a speaker by simply pointing, making it easier to have meaningful conversations.

 

˝This news reinforces our commitment to continue finding innovative and world class solutions for our consumers,” said Jon Billings, Vice President of Phonak Marketing. “Especially during this time where masks are required, it’s harder for anyone to hear clearly, yet alone patients with hearing loss who depend even more on reading lips. Virto Black’s in-the-ear design doesn’t interfere with the typical ear-loop mask and our new Roger On accessory will help amplify sound for hearing aid wearers over distance. Paired together, they will no doubt be a game-changer for our consumers.˝

Oticon More

Also seeing off fierce competition to scoop an award was Oticon’s new deep neural network hearing aid, More, which has been designed to make sound more natural by restoring sounds hearing aids have traditionally sacrificed in order to prioritise speech. The research and theory behind Oticon More is discussed in this article.

Commenting on the award win, Janne Jakobson, Vice President, Oticon Brand, Global said: ˝Winning a Red Dot for high design quality in 2021 is an achievement we are extremely proud of, especially knowing that number of entries exceeded any previous year in the awards’ 60 year history. The journey to conceive Oticon More has required an unwavering dedication by our engineers and researchers, so it is really rewarding for them to see that all of their hard work is recognized.˝

Source: Red Dot/Phonak/Oticon