Phonak, a leading brand of the Swiss audiology group Sonova, has introduced a hearing aid that is the first in the world to feature a dedicated real-time AI chip.
This innovative device, named the Audéo Sphere Infinio is designed to differentiate between clear speech and ambient noise, potentially enhancing the user’s ability to focus on specific conversations in noisy environments like public transport or restaurants.
Arnd Kaldowski, CEO of Sonova Group, emphasized the importance of this development, noting that while hearing aids have advanced over the past decade, many users still struggle with understanding conversations in noisy settings. Kaldowski believes that this new technology could significantly improve the quality of life for individuals with hearing loss.
The innovation lies in the Audéo Sphere Infinio’s dual-chip setup. It includes the Phonak ERA chip and a pioneering real-time AI sound processing chip called DEEPSONIC. This AI chip, trained on an extensive dataset of 22 million sound samples, enhances speech clarity from all directions and improves the hearing aid’s signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by 10 decibels.
Andi Vonlanthen, Sonova’s global head of research and development, highlighted the extensive effort and investment that went into developing DEEPSONIC, which incorporates a powerful Deep Neural Network (DNN).
The Audéo Sphere Infinio, along with other new products from the Infinio platform, such as the Audéo R Infinio and Virto R Infinio, is set to launch later this month, marking a new era in hearing aid technology.