New Oticon Opn(TM) Hearing Aid Solves the Restaurant Dilemma

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - June 07, 2016) - The most challenging social situation for people with hearing loss is dining out with friends where multiple speakers and restaurant background noise compete for attention. Until now, hearing aid technology has addressed this problem by closing down sounds and focusing on one speaker only, using the traditional directionality. With the completely new Velox™ platform, Oticon has made directionality as we know it a thing of the past. Hearing aid technology takes a quantum leap forward with this groundbreaking sound processing platform that is so fast it enables users to follow rapidly changing conversations involving several speakers.

The small, discreet hearing aid is a powerhouse of innovative technology. Opn is powered by the high speed Velox™ platform -- 50 times faster than previous technology -- that scans, analyzes and reacts to sounds in the environments more than 100 times per second. Opn allows wearers to enjoy an open sound experience where surrounding sounds are available but not intrusive. They can easily follow the sounds they want to hear and quickly shift their attention when desired.

"Oticon Opn, the first hearing aid proven to make it easier on the brain," said Kelly Lebel, Audiology and Training Manager. "Preliminary testing shows that Opn increases speech understanding, which is the parameter most important to hearing aid wearers, by 30%.* People who wear Opn also experience 20% less listening effort when trying to understand speech,* and because they use up less energy trying to understand, they are able to remember 20% more of what was said."**

Opn offers easy wireless connectivity to a variety of smartphones and other iOS and Android devices. Audio is streamed directly to the hearing aids using Bluetooth technology developed especially for hearing aids that uses significantly less battery power when streaming. With the free, downloadable Oticon ON App™, wearers can control volume, program or device selection and other functions with just a tap of their smartphone.

Oticon Opn is also the world's first hearing aid that connects directly to the internet via the If This Then That network (IFTTF.com). "Wearers can connect to a range of IFTTT-enabled devices used in everyday life such as door bells, thermostats and baby monitors," said Kelly Lebel. "Users will be able to use their Opn hearing aids with a growing number of IFTTT-compatible products and services as they become available."

*Compared to Alta2 Pro
**Individual benefit may vary depending on instrument prescription

For more information on Oticon Opn, visit www.oticon.ca.

About Oticon

500 million people worldwide suffer from hearing loss. The majority are over the age of 50 while eight percent are under the age of 18. It is Oticon's ambition that our customers -- hearing clinics throughout the world -- prefer to use our products for people with impaired hearing. Through passion, dedication and professional expertise, Oticon develops and manufactures hearing aids for both adults and children. Oticon supports every kind of hearing loss from mild to severe and we pride ourselves on developing some of the most innovative hearing aids in the market. Headquartered out of Denmark, we are a global company and part of William Demant Holding Group with more than 11,000 employees and revenues of over DKK 10 billion. www.oticon.global

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