Company’s Revolutionary HyperSound Clear 500P Directed Audio System
Now Offers an Add-on Relief Feature for Tinnitus Sufferers While Improving the
Home Entertainment Listening Experience for People with Hearing Loss
San Diego, CA – September 1, 2016 – Earlier this year Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR), a leading audio technology company for over 40 years, announced research regarding the use of its revolutionary HyperSound® Technology directed audio to alleviate Tinnitus. Today, Turtle Beach is excited and proud to announce the company has received FDA clearance on an all-new Tinnitus relief feature for its revolutionary HyperSound Clear™ 500P home audio system. The new Tinnitus add-on works in addition to the HyperSound Clear 500P‘s already proven ability to significantly1 improve the home entertainment listening experience for people with hearing loss.
Looking beyond hearing loss, Tinnitus is another serious and widespread hearing health problem. Commonly known as “ringing in the ears,” Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no actual external noise is present, and there is currently no cure for most types of Tinnitus. Additionally, the American Tinnitus Association2 states, “Millions of Americans experience Tinnitus, often to a debilitating degree, making it one of the most common health conditions in the country. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 15% of the general public – over 50 million Americans – experience some form of Tinnitus, with approximately 20 million struggling with chronic Tinnitus, and two million living with extreme and debilitating cases.”
“We’re committed to advancing the clinical capabilities for how HyperSound Technology can help individuals with hearing issues,” said Rodney Schutt, SVP and General Manager for the HyperSound business at Turtle Beach Corporation. “HyperSound is still in its infancy as the HyperSound Clear 500P has been out less than a year, and in that time we’ve addressed two prominent hearing healthcare issues. First, we’ve re-created a comfortable home entertainment environment where people with hearing loss and their family and friends can return to the TV room and enjoy the latest entertainment together, and now we may be able to provide relief for people suffering from Tinnitus. These are groundbreaking, all-new solutions for managing these two specific hearing issues that affect millions of people around the world, and we plan to continue to research and test other areas where HyperSound Technology may have the potential to be a hearing healthcare solution or provide exceptional improvements in the home entertainment environment.”
Added Dr. Ritvik Mehta, Founder and Medical Director of the California Hearing & Balance Center, “As a hearing healthcare professional, I’m very excited to be part of another significant breakthrough in hearing healthcare, driven by Turtle Beach’s HyperSound Technology and backed with our research. Our clinical study included 11 adult patients living with chronic Tinnitus, and initial results demonstrate impressive reductions in Tinnitus loudness and annoyance, when sitting in the HyperSound Clear 500P’s directed audio beam using the Tinnitus add-on.”
While there’s no cure for Tinnitus, one of the current treatment methods is to wear headphones, earbuds or a hearing aid that delivers sounds to cancel-out the perceived “ringing in the ears.” Unfortunately, while an effective solution, wearing any of these devices is often uncomfortable, especially over long periods of time and at night when trying to sleep. The new Tinnitus add-on for Turtle Beach’s HyperSound Clear 500P comes pre-programmed with nine soothing sounds, including steam, rain, wind, fan, shower, forest, waves, white and brown noises from which users can choose, and when pointed at a person with Tinnitus, may relieve the “ringing in the ears” sound. The key difference with the HyperSound Clear 500P is that now people have the freedom to sit in their favorite spot in the house, or sleep comfortably in their bed without wearing any device on their head. This has the potential to improve the quality of life for somebody living with chronic Tinnitus.
HyperSound Technology is a fundamentally new approach to sound delivery that generates a directional, narrow beam of audio in the air that can be pointed to a very specific location. Similar to how a flashlight directs a beam of light, the HyperSound Clear 500P directs a beam of audio to targeted listeners, delivering an immersive, 3D audio experience, which helps people hear and understand the television more clearly.
To learn more about Turtle Beach’s HyperSound Technology, the HyperSound Clear 500P and the new Tinnitus add-on feature, please visit the official website at http://hypersoundhearing.com. Dr. Mehta and Dr. Mattson are paid consultants of Turtle Beach.
About Turtle Beach Corporation
Turtle Beach Corporation (http://corp.turtlebeach.com) designs innovative, market-leading audio products for the consumer, healthcare and commercial sectors. Under its award-winning Turtle Beach brand (www.turtlebeach.com), the Company has been the clear market share leader for the past five-plus years with its wide selection of acclaimed gaming headsets for use with Xbox One and PlayStation®4, as well as personal computers and mobile/tablet devices. Under the HyperSound brand (www.hypersound.com), the Company markets pioneering directed audio solutions that have applications in hearing healthcare, digital signage and kiosks and consumer electronics. The Company’s shares are traded on the NASDAQ Exchange under the symbol: HEAR.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements regarding assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events. Forward looking statements are based on management’s statements containing the words “may”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “estimate”, “target”, “project”, “intend” and similar expressions constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management.
While the Company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that its goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, may affect actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by the Company or on its behalf. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, risks related to the Company’s liquidity, the substantial uncertainties inherent in acceptance of existing and future products, the difficulty of commercializing and protecting new technology, the impact of competitive products and pricing, general business and economic conditions, risks associated with the expansion of our business including the implementation of any businesses we acquire, our indebtedness, and other factors discussed in our public filings, including the risk factors included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Company’s other periodic reports. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Company is under no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement after the date of this release whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
1 Mehta, R., Mattson, S., & Seitzman, R., Kappus, B. (2015, August). Speech recognition in the sound field: directed audio vs. conventional speakers. Audiology Online, Article 14901. Retrieved from http://www.audiologyonline.com.
2 Source: American Tinnitus Association website. Retrieved from https://www.ata.org/understanding-facts.
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