iHear about LiNX!

Hearing aid suppliers aim to take the stigma out of wearing a device to ensure they attract the iPhone generation when they age.

GN Store Nord, headquartered in Denmark, the world’s fourth-largest maker, has collaborated with Apple to develop a device packed with Bluetooth-like technology that installed in the ear allows users to stream voice and music from their iPhones without the need for an intermediary device.

Denmark’s expertise in sound technology can be traced back to 1904, when William Demant Holding Group was founded by Hans Demant, whose wife had a hearing disability. Nearly 110 years later, William Demant is the world’s second-largest maker of hearing aids and its foundation continues to fund research and support engineering students.

Strong public and private co-operation has driven development in audio products from microphones to amplifiers in Denmark, which is also home to luxury stereo maker Bang & Olufsen and sound measurement firm Brüel and Kjaer.

The country’s technical university offers an engineering acoustics masters programme that attracts students from around the world and hosts a sound technology innovation network funded by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.

There is huge potential in an industry worth $15 billion. The World Health Organisation estimates there are 360 million people – more than five per cent of the world’s population – with a disabling loss of hearing, yet current hearing aid production meets less than 10 per cent of the global need.

It is estimated that only one in four who suffer from hearing loss in the US, for example, use them. That might in part be down to stigma. But there are hopes that the new technology can overcome some of the problems by making the devices more attractive, accelerating single-digit volume growth in a market that will benefit from an ageing population and rising wealth in emerging markets.

It was a technical challenge to get the 2.4 GHz technology used in the LiNX into a tiny, discreet hearing aid that could run for several days without frequent and fiddly battery changes.

Experts say the LiNX, which will be officially launched next year, is the first attempt to turn a hearing aid into more of a lifestyle product.