Sonova’s hearing aid brand Phonak is bursting into the marketplace again…not with just one platform, but two, both bringing solutions for what the manufacturer identifies as the key to needing hearing aids: understanding speech in background noise.

Parallel to the launch of Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio, a hearing aid using real-time artificial intelligence through a proprietary AI chip, Sonova is also launching the Phonak Audéo Infinio platform.

The first of these, Audéo Sphere Infinio, builds on Sonova’s new and proprietary dual-chip technology. So, that’s two chips – DEEPSONIC and ERA, the first applying real-time AI to sound processing. And with this chip Sonova claims to set new standards for sound quality, connectivity and power management – all critical needs for people with hearing loss – along with helping to improve speech understanding and conversation quality. Customers can expect the new hearing aids to be available from August 2024, and phonak UK has confirmed local availability from August 27.

“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. While every user would state we have come a long way in the last ten years, they will say they still can’t understand conversations as well as they would like to, when background noise is present, like in many crowded places, such as public transport or restaurants. We are convinced that with our new technology, we can make a significant difference for people in need,” says Arnd Kaldowski, Sonova’s Group CEO.

Adding to the producer’s confident launch declaration, Andi Vonlanthen, Sonova’s Global Head of Research and Development for Hearing Instruments, underlines: “With the development of our new real-time AI technology, Sonova has made a huge step forward – also in terms of technological ingenuity.”

In common with other manufacturers, Sonova’s inventors equip the new platform with a Deep Neural Network (DNN) that required the development of a proprietary chip DEEPSONIC, “our DNN unit, as well as a specific training and testing environment, so we could optimise the chip’s performance. The entire process took many years and a significant investment in technology development,” adds Vonlanthen.

 

About the Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio platform

 

Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio is the first hearing aid powered by dual-chip AI technology: the ERA chip and DEEPSONIC, a dedicated real-time AI / Deep Neutral Network (AI / DNN) chip from Sonova’s proprietary research and development.

Sonova claims this dual chip solution offers 53 times more processing power compared to current hearing aid industry chip technology ^“which allows it to instantly separate clear speech from background noise in a fundamentally different way from the AI used in existing hearing instruments^“.

Another new chip – Phonak ERA – drives solutions in the Phonak Infinio platform

 

Phonak is also launching the broad Phonak Infinio platform, powered by the new ultra-responsive Phonak ERA chip. The platform’s technology includes:

• Sound quality improvements due to the AI in AutoSense OS™ 6.0 automatic operating system and a newly optimised fitting algorithm.
• Improved Bluetooth¹⁰ Classic connectivity, supporting thousands of Bluetooth-compatible devices, including iOS and Android, with a new antenna to deliver up to six times more wireless transmission power compared to previous generations.
• The Phonak Audéo Infinio portfolio spans:
  • Phonak Audéo R Infinio with the Receiver In the Canal (RIC) form-factor for mild to profound hearing loss.
  • Phonak CROS R Infinio, which is a solution for untreatable hearing loss in one ear, and
  • Phonak Virto R Infinio: Phonak’s first rechargeable custom hearing aid.

For more information on these new Infinio platforms from Phonak, click here.