Home / Trends / Newsroom / Contents

According to the WHO, one-fourth of the global population have hearing problems. Among young people, between the ages of 12 and 35, about 1.1 billion around the world are exposed to excessive noise levels from leisure and entertainment which increases their risk of hearing loss. Such hearing loss not only affects interpersonal communication, but also increases the possibility of dementia and the risk of falls which has a huge negative physical and psychological impact on individuals. However, in Taiwan, only 4% of people with hearing impairment receive immediate assistive device treatment. In fact, most people have already missed the critical period to alleviate the effects of hearing loss, a regret that will last for the rest of their lives. In resposnse to this growing issue, Shennona has launched the innovative “AI Hearing Amplifier” using creative, new technologies to bridge the gap between the hearing impaired and the world of sound, so that sufferers can communicate with others with confident smiles again.

Continuous Internal and External Challenges - An Entrepreneurial Innovative Energy in Circulation

“Actually, I have suffered from early hearing impairment before,” said Junxian Tu, Sales Manager of Compal & Shennona. The “AI Hearing Amplifier” originates from the personal experiences of their team members. Several key members in the product development team suffer from hearing problems. This is the reason why the development team has devoted itself to the "hearing" field, an essential health issue that is too often ignored. It grabbed the attention of higher management in Compal in an internal innovation contest where it won the Gold Technology Award. The team strived for greater resource investments to further development, and now the device has finally become the first hearing assistive device at Shennona.

“New technology brings new experiences, yet the creation of new experience does not necessarily depend on new technologies,” shared Sales Manager, Junxian Tu. This quote encapsulates his spirit and thoughts about entrepreneurial innovation - that technology is used for creating the core of innovative experience. For example Compal Inc., a renowned computer OEM company, has put much emphasis on the demand for long-term nursing caregivers in the aging society. During recent years, the company has been very aggressive in expanding into the intelligent medical industry. Shennona is one of its subsidiaries, targeting the expansion of medical IoT applications, pursuing innovations and breakthroughs in order to improve society by means of fresh business models.

Keeping itself in "combat status", by confronting all sorts of external challenges, has always been the secret for continuous progress at Compal Inc. By competing in various domestic and foreign innovation contests and participating in professional exhibitions, it has been collecting more comprehensive feedback and opinions to remove all the existing internal blind spots in the company. The focus of attention varies depending on the different contests. In some contests, the user-friendliness of a product is key, while in other contests practical issues such as the product’s affordability in an individual market, the supportiveness of its channel structures, users’ trust levels and more are highlighted. The knowledge gained, both during and after these contests and exhibitions, is extremely helpful to the precise execution of business product strategies that often turn out to be the seeds for further adjustments and growth.

Prevention is more Helpful than Treatment – A Vertical Integration of Hearing Care

If they have myopia, most people would choose to seek professional help and wear glasses; however, when a person suffers from hearing loss, he or she tends to be unaware of it or just considers it a natural symptom of aging and neglects it. Consequently, it may lead to poorer communication ability, more susceptibility to injury and falls or even dementia. Shennona hopes to become the pioneer in promoting better hearing health. The goal is to make the innovative “AI Hearing Amplifier” be the point of connection that joins together long-term nursing, day care, hearing centers and other end-users with hearing health-check services and hearing condition sharing systems. A comprehensive hearing care service platform will be constructed in the form of vertical integration. This allows for the saving of time and labor on preliminary screenings at early stages, so that all medical personnel can focus on and commit to back-end treatments and healthcare. To achieve this goal, Shennona is currently working with The Speech Language Hearing Association, the Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center of ITRI, Ricare, PSA Charitable Foundation, and the Assistive Technology Resources Centers on different, specific areas. Going forward, it also plans to safeguard the hearing health of everyone by cooperating with local governments, long-term nursing organizations and medical institutions.

The Assault of Black-Technology Assistive Devices – Challenging the Public’s Imagination

In the past, hearing amplifiers were similar to speakers that simply amplify sounds, yet they could not totally satisfy the daily needs of the hearing impaired. The creation of this groundbreaking gadget, the “AI Hearing Amplifier”, destroys people’s preconceptions about all assistive hearing amplifiers. The exclusive, patented AI human-voice strengthening technology removes all barriers in daily conversations. All electronic devices can be connected via Bluetooth function, allowing a person to listen to the sounds of TV and music naturally. The voices of frequent contacts are pre-recorded and saved in the "voice phone-book" with no external interference at all. The battery-charging step can be avoided due to its intelligent charging design. A search function/ A GPS and location function is also included in this lightweight and stylish device, allowing it to accompany the hearing impaired anytime and anywhere, without them missing a single moment of wonder in the world of sound. Thanks to such amazing and innovative technology, this device won the 2022 Taiwan Excellence Award, as well as the 2021 iF Design Award and the 2021 Smart City Innovation Application Award

Integrated and fitted with AI technology, the Hearing Amplifier automatically adjusts and lowers audio sounds, which is a delicate task to perform and more like a customized assistive hearing device. By wearing it, a grandma who likes to sing and dance no longer needs to control the distance between the Hearing Amplifier and the playback equipment. The Bluetooth connection gives her the freedom to enjoy music and dance as much as she wants to. Taiwan will very soon be a super-aged society and the AI Hearing Amplifier not only allows seniors to get joy back into their daily life, but also effectively reduces the possibility of dementia triggered by hearing loss. People tend to ignore the significance of their own hearing loss, so the “AI Hearing Amplifier” offers a compensatory listening solution to fix this by introducing the latest Smart Fitting technology. It can quickly perform a hearing ability screening and provide adaptive compensation, together with excellent online customer service that can offer further recommendations to the user.

Building Up Medical Support as the Backup Force - Prospects in the International Market

With Taiwan entering the stage of being a super-aging society, the workforce resources in traditional medical treatment and healthcare are gradually getting stretched. Junxian Tu mentioned that the launch of AI Hearing Amplifiers can alleviate concerns about the increased demand for professional health care and its impact on human resources for hearing health checkups. Meanwhile, it offers the hearing impaired the brand-new experience of using assistive devices because it can implement hearing care simply and effectively. This is the key reason why the “AI Hearing Amplifier” is being so highly-acclaimed after winning Taiwan Excellence Award. The innovative AI technology can even be transferred to videoconference applications to meet the needs of the public’s daily life in the post-pandemic era. By collaborating with foundations and governmental long-term nursing organizations, both domestically and overseas, Shennona will continue developing the diversified uses of AI technology and promote them in international markets. Global expansion will be the driving force behind Shennona working actively with Taiwan Excellence.

Sales Manager, Junxian Tu, shared a quote from Albert Einstein, “It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.” This is used as the foundation of Shennona’s motto to keep developing, breaking through and innovating new products. The ethos: discover a problem and propose a solution. The company has internal products, technologies and market resources in place, while also collaborating on external innovations and with cross-field groups, so that it can truly provide groundbreaking experiences to people all around the world. In the future, Shennona will be an extension of Compal Inc.’s existing ICT by using industrial resources and combining them with precise manufacturing and design ability, allowing smart technology to become a powerful supporting force in improving medical care quality. Together with governments, medical institutions and healthcare facilities, Shenona can help to build an aging-friendly healthcare environment.