Oticon Kaizn, said to be “the world’s first personal AI assistant for your ears”, has received a 2019 CES Best of Innovation Award in the Software and Mobile Apps category, and has been named a CES Innovation Honoree in the Tech for a Better World category.
According to the company announcement, the new AI-powered tool “brings to fruition the promise of personalized, human-driven hearing healthcare for hundreds of thousands of hearing aid wearers worldwide”.
Oticon Kaizn, AI-Powered Assistant for Your Ears
According to the company, the artificial intelligence built into Kaizn learns from a hearing aid wearer’s listening preferences, habits, and environments to predict their preferences in a particular sound scenario and will then automatically adjust the user’s hearing aid settings for an optimized listening experience.
“Oticon is a pioneer in the use of artificial intelligence in the audiology sector, with a long-standing commitment to innovation and excellence in technology that improves hearing and overall quality of life for people with hearing loss. With Kaizn, we tap the full potential of data-driven personalized hearing care, using a combination of real-time local data, aggregated ‘big’ data and artificial intelligence to deliver a best sound experience.”
–Annette Mazevski, AuD, PhD, Manager, Technology Assessment at Oticon, Inc.
Kaizn is said to analyze and collect data about an individual’s hearing aid use and listening environments to learn their behaviors and hearing preferences, and ultimately provide real-time hearing aid recommendations and adjustments.
The AI-powered tool communicates with hearing aid wearers at key moments to learn their “intent” or what they want to gain from different sound environments. For example, Kaizn will recognize when a hearing aid wearer enters a noisy environment, like a loud restaurant, and will contact the wearer, via a push notification, to ask whether they need “focus” or “comfort” in the scenario. Kaizn will then adjust the user’s hearing aid settings to reflect that preference.
Over time, Kaizn can automate adaptive changes based on the user’s feedback/validation and adjust the user’s Opn hearing aid settings automatically when they enter similar noise environments.
“Kaizn will support hearing care professionals in their efforts to engage and encourage patients to become active partners in their hearing healthcare. This ever expanding, ever improving AI-based solution and system will allow hearing care professionals to provide continuous added value that enables patients to optimize the choices they make daily that affect their hearing health and overall well-being.”
–Donald Schum, Ph.D., Oticon VP of Audiology
Oticon will preview Kaizn alongside the HearingFitness™ app, a 2018 CES Innovation Award winner, and Oticon Opn, a 2017 CES Best of Innovation Award winner, at CES 2019 in Las Vegas. Attendees can visit booth #43334 in the Sands to learn more.
Why Kaizn?
The name Kaizn™ was inspired by the Japanese word and famous LEAN principle, kaizen. The word itself means “change for better” and implies a continuous process of improvement. This thinking is a key part of Oticon Kaizn technology that uses artificial intelligence to continuously learn and better adapt to the user’s needs.
Source: Oticon, Inc
