"In developing Chili, we recognized early on that helping power users to hear speech better was not enough," states Oticon President Peer Lauritsen. "Our goal for Chili was an ambitious one - to empower people with moderately-severe to profound hearing loss to live active, vital lives. The results of a dedicated, in-depth study of super power users, their families and friends and information from super power users who are routinely interviewed and tested by Oticon audiologists and researchers enabled us to identify their most important needs and desires. We looked beyond the need for amplification to better understand the real life challenges and the impact of severe hearing loss on personal connections and social interactions."
A New Way to Solve a Well Known Challenge
The ability to understand speech is essential for a super power user. Helping users to not just distinguish but to make sense of the sounds - clear, undistorted speech - is the challenge addressed with Chili's new Speech Guard. The unique amplification technique helps to maximize audibility and speech recognition without the jumble and distortion power users can encounter with even the most advanced hearing aids available today.
Speech Guard provides a clear signal, reducing the distortion to make it easier to follow conversations, even in more complex environments where noise or more voices are competing for attention. The addition of Oticon's proprietary Dynamic Speech Enhancement rationale for super power users (DSEsp) provides the desired insertion gain and MPO and maintains optimum loudness levels for speech input across the relevant frequency range, making speech signals far more useful for users.
People with severe to profound hearing loss also have greater difficulty selecting and following a particular speaker. Chili's Binaural Noise Management system automatically turns up speech on one side when the signal to noise ratio is significantly better, while attenuating noise on the opposite side to improve listening effort.
Connecting to Modern Communication Devices
Chili's embedded wireless connectivity capabilities offer a unique and intuitive hearing solution that allows users to switch seamlessly between entertainment and communication devices using the Streamer remote control device. With the Streamer, Chili becomes a hands-free headset for mobile phones and MP3 players. With the addition of the ConnectLine system, users can channel sound directly from the TV, landline telephone or music player with just the touch of a button. Connect(+) adds Power Bass and Music Widening features for a richer, more open listening experience.
Style, Quality and Reliability to Count On
Chili combines attractive and discreet design with high performance and reliability. The new hearing instrument's stylish, cosmetic design incorporates fast control features for instant muting, volume adjustment and program selection.
Engineered to the highest endurance specifications, Chili is designed inside and out with double protection against damage from moisture, sweat, dirt and shocks. The unique shock-absorbing construction of Chili's electronic components prevents breakage should the hearing instruments be dropped or fall off the ear. The high-tech water repellent coating keeps out moisture and dirt, and the battery door is secured against water and sweat. Inside, Chili's electronic parts are permanently sealed with a coating that repels water, moisture and dirt.
For more information on the new Oticon Chili visit www.Oticonusa.com or the Oticon web channel on AudiologyOnline.
