One of the major hearing aid manufacturers, Oticon, recently came out with a new hearing aid model called the Oticon Intent in February of 2024. According to their website, the Intent has the “world’s first user-intent sensors.” So, what does this mean?
The Oticon user-intent sensors allow personalized support by taking the user’s head and body movements into account and offering 4D sensor technology. Oticon claims that their new technology will help to enhance speech clarity in background noise by 15%. There are 4 components considered with the 4D sensors:
- Acoustic environment
- Head movement
- Body movement
- Conversation activity
The Intent is Oticon’s first redesign of Oticon’s receiver-in-canal style hearing aids in three generations. It is basically a mini version of their old style. It no longer has a rocker switch for volume control, but it does have one button that can still be utilized for the same purpose, allowing them to create a smaller design.
Also, Oticon introduced Bluetooth LE audio and Auracast-ready technology into the Intent model. The Auracast technology allows users to connect their hearing aids to different transmitters (smartphone, computer, tablet, TV, etc) without the need to pair the devices. This makes it a much easier process for users to seamlessly listen to their favorite audio without going through the hassle of the pairing process.
Here at Gardner Audiology, the patients we have fit with the Oticon Intent have been thoroughly impressed. Most of the users have been previous Oticon users and report that with this new model, they can tell a difference in terms of speech comprehension and report a “natural” sound quality. Please see Oticon’s website to learn more. If you or someone you know is interested in the Oticon Intent hearing aids, contact Gardner Audiology at 800-277-1182 to set up an appointment now at any one of our 10 locations across the Tampa Bay area.
