Phonak has launched EON, a hearing aid platform built around a newly developed processor the company calls HYPERSONIC, which it says runs two artificial intelligence systems in parallel while drawing 37% less power than the generation before it.
The Sonova-owned brand is pitching the release at the two problems that have defined the category for years, which are understanding speech in noise and making the devices worth what they cost.
The first of the two systems, Spheric Speech Clarity 3.0, uses a deep neural network to separate speech from background noise as it arrives. The second, AutoSense OS AI 8.0, classifies the surrounding sound environment and adjusts which features are running to suit it, so the wearer is not expected to switch programmes manually as they move between a restaurant and a street.
Running both at once is the part the chip is there to make possible. “With the HYPERSONIC chip, we have engineered a significant step forward in power efficiency without compromising real-time AI performance,” said Anders Rosengren, Sonova’s chief R&D officer.
The efficiency gain shows up in physical size and battery life. EON is 25% smaller and 20% lighter than the previous Sphere generation, according to Phonak, and runs for up to 38 hours on a charge, which is generous for a device that has to fit behind an ear and process audio continuously.
