Seriously First Class Hearing

Every few years, something happens in the hearing technology industry which pushes everything forward by leaps and bounds.  Open fit hearing aids did that a few years ago.  Phonak has just released a new product with some features that promise to push that envelope again.  They call it the Ambra.

The Ambra is a true First Class communication device.  We refuse to call it a hearing aid for the simple reason that, if it works as promised, the Ambra will enable a person with a hearing loss to actually hear in certain situations as well as (and just maybe even better) than a normal hearing person.

You read right.  Better.

Here's how they do it.

This is an illustration of standard, monaural directional microphones.  Monaural directional microphones have a broad forward focus (gray beam) enabling improved audibility for all sounds within the beam.  However, they have always had a problem with one-one-one communication in a noisy environment.

 StereoZoom enables the wearer to narrow the beam further and focus on a single speaker, while suppressing other interfering sounds. Communication, even in situations which were considered impossible, is now possible.

The introduction of ZoomControl revolutionized directional hearing and set a benchmark for binaural
processing.  It automatically tracks and focuses on speech, regardless of the direction, without the need to face the speaker. Once activated, auto ZoomControl automatically selects the direction of the dominant speech source.  For example, when driving in a car, the hearing device will focus on whomever is talking-- regardless if they are in the front seat or in the back.

When focusing to one side, the speech signal is picked up and amplified by the instrument on that side; simultaneously the entire signal is streamed to the other ear. As a result, the desired signal is heard in both ears, dramatically improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This unique feature provides natural binaural listening with all of its advantages.

It is this feature that will allow those wearing the devices (even if they have a hearing loss) to have a significant communication advantage in noisy places over those without the device (even those with perfectly normal hearing.)  You may soon find people with normal hearing wearing these devices in restaurants, at trade shows, and in other noisy environments.

We are just fitting our first of these devices this week, but so far the results are encouraging.  We will definitely keep an eye on this technology and let you know if it really is as good as it says that it is!