For the first time, the Association of the German Hearing Aid Industry will be presenting everything that modern hearing aid systems have to offer at IFA, the world’s leading trade fair for consumer electronics, which takes place from 2 to 7 September 2011 on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. In Hall 9, on Stand 102, the focus will be on hearing and hear aid technology. Thus the line-up of the association rounds off the exhibits displayed by other manufacturers, which range from flat screen TVs, mobile phones and stereo systems to tablet PCs. Today’s wireless technology makes it possible to easily connect these consumer electronics products to hearing aids, enabling their users to communicate much better, and giving them an improved quality of life. The majority of current consumer electronics products require their owners to have perfect hearing. In this context hearing aids represent a link between persons with a hearing impairment and our society in the digital age.
“Advances in hearing technology are making rapid progress, and current hearing aids bear no comparison with models that were designed three years ago, for example. Not only is the industry capable of partially giving back persons with a hearing impairment their ability to hear, but via a technological link with everyday products it can provide them with tangible added value“, says Hans-Peter Bursig, chairman of the board of the Association of the German Hearing Aid Industry. “Their performance is impressive as well. The computing power of a digital hearing system compares with that of a modern PC. Modern PCs require a power input of up to 1000 watts. Modern hearing aids make do with a single milliwatt, one millionth of the power required by a PC“, says Hans-Peter Bursig.
For the management of IFA the debut of the Association of the German Hearing Aid Industry is the logical next step following ongoing developments. Jens Heithecker, director of IFA at Messe Berlin: “Networking is becoming an increasingly common part of day-to-day life, and using smartphones, tablet PCs, navigation systems and other high-tech products is taken for granted.
Nowadays, hearing systems no longer represent a sole aid or cure. Wireless links with networks offer these consumers an easier-to-use, new quality experience of the world of media and communications. We greatly look forward to presenting these innovative products and technologies at IFA, which fit in perfectly with the consumer technology trade fair that is IFA, and which will be experienced by a wide audience.”
More information on the association’s participation in IFA will be available soon at www.ear-fidelity.de.
About the Association of the German Hearing Aid Industry
The Association of the German Hearing Aid Industry represents the 14 manufacturers of hearing aids supplying the German market. The association voices the interests of its members and provides information on all issues regarding hearing technology, hearing impairments and on innovative developments in audiology. In this context the association promotes the widespread use of hearing aids by people with a hearing impairment, provides information on the capabilities of modern hearing systems, and aims to dispel inhibitions regarding their use. Furthermore, the association is committed to close and effective cooperation with all groups involved in supplying hearing systems. They include hearing aid acousticians, ear, nose and throat specialists, healthcare insurances, other associations and pressure groups as well as members of politics. In 2010, turnover in the hearing aid industry for supplying hearing systems and fitting aids was approximately one billion euros.
