Starkey Laboratories Inc, Eden Prairie, Minn, has won a Spark Design Award for the design of Zon, the best-in-class receiver-in-canal (RIC) line of products introduced this year.
Zon was among 360 entries considered by a 14-member jury of global design experts. The product competed against submissions from Kohler, Dyson, Swarovski, Virgin America, BMW and design firms Fuseproject and Pentagram Design. Winners will be on exhibit at the Autodesk Design Gallery in San Francisco through January.
Developed with an evidence-based design approach, the products are made from moisture-resistant material and their curved shape helps minimize the number of touchpoints on wearers’ skin. The company worked with cosmetics researchers to create a sophisticated hair and skin-tone color palette to complement and match skin and coloring.
Harnessing the power of BluWave signal processing, the products virtually eliminate feedback, with active feedback intercept. They offer directional speech detector, witfree-field and KEMAR DIs and a low operational noise floor, making speech more audible in difficult listening situations. Hearing care professionals can quickly and accurately conduct real-ear measurements with Integrated Real Ear Measurement (IREM). IREM provides a precise fit, helping professionals counsel patients, reducing the number of adjustments needed for a comfortable fit, and addressing the challenges hearing aid users are facing in their environments.
The competition considers criteria such as sustainability, suitability, context, inventiveness, process, universality, and beauty.
