Somerset, NJ July 1 - I.D. Magazine has awarded the prestigious Design Distinction Award to Oticon for the design of Lexis wireless personal communication system. Oticon's Copenhagen-based design team developed the Lexis system for optimal user-friendly functionality, testing the handheld digital microphone/transmitter and a small ear level receiver for state-of-the-art ergonomic form and function. The I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review, America's largest and most prestigious juried design competition since 1950, chose the Lexis design from an entry pool of more than 2,000 designs from around the world.
''We are honored to be selected by I.D. Magazine for this international award," stated Peter Anker Nielsen, Project Manager of the Lexis development team at Oticon. "In our work on Lexis, our first goal was to provide users with an advanced wireless system with extreme directionality that would help them overcome barriers of noise and distance. We also recognized the importance of making Lexis cosmetically appealing and highly flexible so that it could be used in a classroom, meeting room or other professional or social situations.''
"The idea was to create a highly attractive microphone shape that could comfortably be held with either the left or right hand and also would fit in the pocket. All the moving mechanical parts should integrate into the design as natural elements" noted Design Engineer Anders Koefoed. ''Prototypes were tested and developed with experienced FM users from an early stage to insure that the design provided the aesthetic and functional benefits we were looking for.''
The advanced digital algorithm behind the four-microphone, digital beamforming array in the transmitter, was developed by Soren Laugesen from Oticon's Eriksholm research facility. "This gives Lexis an unprecedented directionality level of 8.5dB Articulation Index-Weighted Directivity Index (AI-DI). The result is a far more effective noise reduction system than either a directional hearing aid or other FM systems," explained Laugesen.
Nine independent leaders in hearing health care - Audibel, Bernafon, MicroTech, NuEar, Omni, Oticon, Phonic Ear, Qualitone and Starkey - collaborated to introduce Lexis. Lexis is supported and distributed worldwide by all nine companies.
About Oticon
Oticon, one of the world's oldest and most respected hearing aid manufacturers, celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2004. The company was founded in Copenhagen in 1904 by Hans Demant, inspired by a desire to help his hearing impaired wife and others like her. Today, Oticon is located in over 20 countries, providing quality, state-of-the-art hearing instruments to people worldwide. A pioneer in digital technology, Oticon continues to develop and manufacture the newest, most technologically advanced hearing instruments to help people with hearing loss "live the lives they want, with the hearing they have." The company's commitment to put People First in designing quality hearing care solutions is made stronger through partnership with dedicated and caring hearing care professionals in countries around the world.
