a wearable for better hearing
TRANSCRIPT
Introducing
BeHear™A SELF-TUNABLE, TRULY PERSONAL BLUETOOTH®
HEADSET WITH HEARING ENHANCEMENT CAPABILITIES
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Conceptualizing the vision of Alango, Ltd.
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BeHear Elevates Your Hearing
Enjoyment and Comprehension
Personalizes hearing, enhances sound for:
phone calls
streamed music
conversations
the environment
Built-in hearing assessment
provides maximum hearing personalization
generates customizable hearing profiles
creates variety of supported sound environments
Suits people with normal hearing, as well as those with mild to moderate hearing loss
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Hearing Facts
About Hearing in General
No two ears, or two people, hear alike
Hearing preferences vary between individuals, and are source-dependent
About Hearing Loss
Gradual hearing loss is a common consequence of aging
14-17% (>700M) people of all ages worldwide have hearing loss
The number of hearing impaired people is growing twice as fast as the general population
About Hearing Aids (HA)
95% of hard of hearing people can be helped by HA
In developed countries only 15-20% of people with hearing loss use HA
In developing countries only 1 in 40 of those who need it have access to HA
HA sales have been stagnating for the past several years
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* Data collected from the World Health Organization fact sheets
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Why? 4 Reasons … (at least)
1. Extremely High Cost
Top-of-the-line devices are sold by audiologists for $3000-$5000
Not covered by most health insurance policies
2. Stigma
Hearing aids are visible medical devices associated
with elderly and/or handicapped people
3. Limited Functionality
Mainly hearing amplification
Limited connectivity
Limited frequency range (300-7000Hz)
4. Customer Dissatisfaction
20% of people who bought hearing aids return them
17% of users are dissatisfied, 7% keep them in the drawer
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Alango’s Vision: Create a line of multi-functional,
high-performance, low-cost alternatives to
traditional hearing aids
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Traditional hearing aid →Bluetooth™ headset with hearing enhancement
Medical device →
As small as possible, almost invisible, but making you look older
→
High cost of manufacturing and precision components
→
High cost of marketing & distribution →
Limited performance due to size and power consumption limitations
→
Limited connectivity →
Consumer electronics device
Stylish, fashionable device
Low cost of manufacturing due to using high-volume, CE components
Distributed via Internet or consumer electronics channels
Larger form factor allows using better components, rechargeable batteries and powerful DSP
May connect to everything via a Bluetooth® protocol and smartphone
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BeHear™ Concept Product:
A Truly Personal Bluetooth® Hearable
Includes everything you can find in
the most expensive hearing aids, and more
Improves all-around hearing,
without the stigma of a hearing aid
Works as an advanced Bluetooth stereo headset
Sold “Over The Counter”; not a medical device
Low cost ($129 MSRP)
High customer satisfaction
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Hear Ambient Sounds
According to Your Preferences Binaural adaptive processing
Advanced feedback canceller
Stationary, transient and wind
noise reduction
Multi-channel dynamic range
compression, tunable for specific
hearing loss and environments
And more …
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Binaural adaptive processing
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Personalized Listening for Optimal
Enjoyment and Intelligibility
Personalized voice call and music sound according to:
User hearing (based on user’s hearing preferences assessment)
User preferences (based on real time sound customization)
EasyListen™ (during phone calls)
Slows down the incoming, far end speech for better understanding
Improve comprehension of fast talkers, foreign languages, recorded messages
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)
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your
EARS
Noise around
you
Noise
dependent
volume and
frequency
equalization
Your hearing
preferences
User
specific
sound
processing
Your device
properties
Device
speaker
equalization
one
SOUND
audio audio audio audio audioGeneral
sound
enhancement
Making the Music Personal 9
Active Noise
Cancellation
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Hear Only What You Want
and Need to Hear
ListenThrough™
Stay aware of ambient sounds while enjoying your music content
Passes through only important sounds, such as sirens or a colleague’s voice
Blocks ambient noise without compromising the music experience
Noise dependent volume and equalization control
Sound is amplified additionally according to ambient noise level and spectrum
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) of ambient noises
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Hearing Threshold(sound becomes audible above this level)
Most Comfortable Level (sound is most pleasant and clear around this level)
Built-in Hearing Preferences
Assessment
Use your mobile device screen
Indicate your hearing preferences with a simple built-in assessment for multiple frequencies
Choose two levels for each frequency:
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Best
Hearing
Point
Personalization at Your Fingertips
“Best hearing point“ – You find it!
Intuitively modify the default hearing
enhancement by touching different
parts of the screen
Default hearing enhancement is done
automatically, based on the hearing
preferences assessment
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BeHear Technical Specification
Mechanical
Headset Weight: 29 g (1.0 oz)
Wearing Style: Neck loop
Operation Time
Hearing mode: 15+ hours
Talk: 10+ hours
Play: 8+ hours
Standby: 600 hours
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Receiver Specifications
Maximal Sound Pressure Level (SPL): 115dB
Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz
Microphone Specifications
Four microphones:
Low noise ECM in each earpiece
Digital MEMS in each control box
Frequency Response: 100 Hz to 15 kHz
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)
* Specifications subject to change prior to general availability release
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About Alango
Established in 2002
DSP software technologies for voice, audio and hearing enhancement
Technology used in automotive, mobile, conferencing, assistive listening products
Over 30 million product licenses sold, and growing fast
Offices
35 people
Headquarters, R&D: Haifa, Israel
R&D: St. Petersburg, Russia
Representatives: China, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan
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