Nowadays, modern hearing instruments encompass many sophisticated features. Being able to manually adjust these features often comes at the price of discretion. With Siemens’ touchControl App, hearing instrument users can now turn their smartphone into a remote control. With this free new app, hearing instrument functions can be discreetly controlled, and no additional hardware is required.
The underlying technology is as simple as it is effective. Instead of relying on the traditional wireless coil as a receiver, the new Acoustic Wireless Control utilizes what every hearing instrument has: microphones. This new feature allows the hearing instruments to use special high frequency coded acoustic signals sent by the smartphone, which is then processed as wearer commands. Such coded signals provide inconspicuous control over a number of functions. The user can easily adjust the loudness of the hearing instruments, temporarily mute the microphones or change listening programs, and control bass or trebles to the desired sound quality. And if needed, the loudness of the tinnitus therapy noise can be adjusted as necessary. The app also allows the wearer to assign customized names to listening programs set up by the hearing care professional.
The app’s intuitive interface design and large controls make touchControl very user friendly. For persons with dexterity problems, touch screens offer a convenient alternative to small buttons on the hearing instrument housing or traditional remote controls. The size and brightness of a smartphone screen make it much more comfortable to read and operate.
touchControl is compatible with all Siemens binax hearing instruments. The app is available for iOS and Android-based smartphones, and can be downloaded from the respective app stores – free of charge.
After downloading the app, Siemens shows once more what user-friendliness means: the set up could not be easier. Simply turn on the hearing instruments, start the app, run the setup function and answer a few questions. All this can be done in less than a minute. And if there should still be questions, a set of handling videos can be found on the intranet.