AUDIO

GN Introduces Their Most Advanced Hearing Aid with Dedicated DNN Chip

GN, the Danish manufacturer of prescription and over-the-counter hearing aids, announced their new flagship model ReSound Vivia, powered by a dedicated Deep Neural Network (DNN) chip trained on 13.5 million spoken sentences in various languages and with varied vocal effort, across 3.9 million tuned sound parameters, that spotlights speech and eliminates distracting noise. The new AI powered hearing aids expand GN’s range of Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast-enabled solutions.

GN, the Danish manufacturer of prescription and over-the-counter hearing aids, announced their new flagship model ReSound Vivia, powered by a dedicated Deep Neural Network (DNN) chip trained on 13.5 million spoken sentences in various languages and with varied vocal effort, across 3.9 million tuned sound parameters, that spotlights speech and eliminates distracting noise. The new AI powered hearing aids expand GN’s range of Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast-enabled solutions.

The new ReSound Vivia hearing aids deliver improved sound quality in noisy environments with all-day comfort and battery life in a size similar to the previous flagship, Nexia. Central to this innovation is GN’s human approach to AI, which models the brain’s natural sound processing capability to create voice clarity in complex listening environments. GN’s Intelligent Focus feature is distinctive in its ability to respond to the direction a person is looking, ensuring the AI enhances sounds based on the user’s natural response to their environment. GN’s proprietary technology aims to provide a more natural and effortless listening experience, even in challenging situations like noisy restaurants or crowded venues.

At GN’s pre-launch event in Las Vegas, Chief Audiology Officer Laurel Christensen explained under what circumstances the AI noise reduction comes into play as the situation becomes louder and louder: “First you get what we call asymmetric directionality. It turns on one directional microphone so that you can still hear everything around you. When the environment gets very loud, then we turn on two directional microphones. This is a whole step above of that.” But then, when the situation gets so loud that “you want to hear what you’re looking at, but you’re not hearing it very well,” one can activate the AI functionality. Thus, the DNN is acting mainly on the voice directly ahead since the binaural beamforming mics are activated. 

 

The author discussing GN’s DNN operation with Chief Scientific Officer Andrew Dittberner at the pre-launch event in Las Vegas coincident with CES 2025.

Chief Scientific Officer Andrew Dittberner explained the rationale for concentrating their AI noise reduction in front of the wearer: “it doesn’t really make sense for a dominant person talking behind me to become the dominant voice to hear, right? I mean, we’re just talking the two of us. The last thing I want to hear is the guy behind me in my hearing aids, and that’s all I hear,” adding that they are not eliminating all sounds so that one can still tell when a person to the side begins talking, and choose to turn towards them to better hear what they are saying.

GN also announced the next evolution in Auracast operability with the release of their updated iOS and Android Smart 3D app including a built-in Auracast assistant. Now users of the new Vivia hearing aids, as well as the existing Nexia, will be able to tune Auracast transmissions with nearly any late model smartphone as they become available. Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast capability are also built into GN’s new entry-level hearing aid, Savi, bringing the latest in connectivity and assistive listening to a broader audience.

ReSound Vivia and ReSound Savi hearing aids will be rolled out in the US and Germany on 20th February with more markets following, along with the equivalent Beltone Envision and Beltone Commence line-ups. 

www.resound.com | www.beltone.com

www.gn.com

 


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