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【2021 Solutions】 Enhancing Water Resource Efficiency: WoLong Intelligence Makes Good Use of AI for Early Warning and Decision-Making Functions

An incident of wastewater treatment audit at a home electroplating factory was the driving force for Xie Wenbin, the general manager of WoLong Intelligence Environmental Company, to venture into the environmental engineering field. Leaving behind the envied position of senior engineer at TSMC, he embarked on this entrepreneurial journey with a mission to create a better environment for Taiwan and future generations. Facing erratic climate changes causing droughts and floods, Xie utilized artificial intelligence (AI) technology to become a pioneer in water resource protection.

Observations on Taiwan's rainfall trends over the past half-century indicate that due to intensifying climate change, the drought cycles in Taiwan have shortened from 17 years to between 3 and 5 years. In April 2021, Taiwan experienced its worst water shortage in over half a century. Subsequently, central and southern Taiwan suffered from floods caused by heavy rainfall, making water resource protection a critical issue in today's society.

Xie Wenbin, formerly a chief engineer at TSMC responsible for water treatment, achieved remarkable results in a water-saving event organized by the Water Resources Agency and Hsinchu Science Park in 2015, where TSMC ranked first. During his tenure at the Environment and Development Foundation, he undertook the Industrial Bureau's project on enhancing water efficiency in industries, advising over 300 Taiwanese companies.

AI Adoption in Water Resource Applications Aims for Early Warning and Forecasting Goals

Since its inception less than six months ago, WoLong Intelligence Environmental Company has focused on government projects and SMEs for IoT setups or AI intelligence adoption in wastewater and sewage treatment, aiming to achieve early warning and decision-making goals to enhance water resource efficiency. There are three main themes of smart AIoT applications: predictive and decision-making water treatment systems, optimization of water treatment operation protocols, and smart water treatment management platforms. These are the core businesses of WoLong Intelligence.

Scope and Benefits of AIpoint Water Treatment AI Intelligence System

▲ Scope and Benefits of AIpoint Water Treatment AI Intelligence System

Xie Wenbin noted that the Industrial Bureau supervises 66 wastewater treatment plants, plus tens of thousands of regulated wastewater treatment facilities commonly facing issues with their chemical coagulation systems due to inaccurate and untimely human control and feedback-based chemical dosing, leading to unstable water quality. Large amounts of PAC and Polymer are used unnecessarily, producing a significant amount of sludge. Current testing methods contain errors, and there is a need to establish a more comprehensive AI testing data database to support and assist in setting dosing standards. The integration of big data with patented AI models enhances the efficiency and precision control of wastewater (pollution prevention systems).

Adopting AIpoint Precision Dosing System Achieves Emission Reduction and System Longevity

The adoption of WoLong Intelligence's AIpoint precision dosing intelligent system can achieve the following benefits:

• Reduce manual operation

• Reduce the amount of chemicals used

• Reduce sludge production

• Reduce carbon emissions / Save energy

• Extend system life

• System automatic prevention and maintenance

• Lower conductivity levels

AI Water Resource Service Models and Processes

▲ AI Water Resource Service Models and Processes

Indeed, wastewater and sewage plants vary in their degree of digitalization. Therefore, Xie Wenbin categorizes clients and sets up IoT devices and software/hardware systems for those not yet digitalized; for those already equipped with IoT, AI technologies are introduced to solve specific problems and enhance the efficiency of wastewater treatment. 'Not all customer issues need to be resolved with AI, and we never use AI for the sake of using AI,' says Xie Wenbin, who assesses and implements based on the actual needs of the customers. With his extensive experience in water treatment and the addition of AI experts, factories only need to provide water quality data for AI prediction and decision-making.

In practice, some factories have stringent cybersecurity requirements, so AIpoint's smart cloud platform can directly connect the data collection hardware to the factory site, and the data is not stored in the cloud. The system automatically categorizes and filters algorithms to find the most suitable model, which is then connected to the system end to generate predictions and decisions. Additionally, the cloud platform is secured with blockchain encryption, and the factory end follows the same steps for rapid integration. Also, the backend monitoring system can assist in early warning for water treatment or water recovery systems, including sensor fault prevention, automatic protection, and retraining of backend models. Projects typically last about three to six months, after which the model is adjusted based on the system's condition. This part is offered as a subscription service combined with after-sales service.

WoLong Intelligence Environmental Company also sets short, medium, and long-term goals. In the short term, it aims to maintain integrity and establish a strong brand identity; in the medium term, it plans to build an ecosystem with hardware partners and collectively expand the market; and ultimately, it hopes to export its services internationally. Financially, Xie Wenbin is looking to actively seek angel investment, targeting NT$20 million to achieve the company's goal of sustainable operation.
 

Founder and General Manager of WoLong Intelligence Environmental Company, Xie Wenbin

▲ Founder and General Manager of WoLong Intelligence Environmental Company, Xie Wenbin

「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only. Translation date:2024-05-19」

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【解決方案】洞悉消費者行為 智能演譯運用AI協助餐飲業順利轉型
Insight into consumer behavior and intelligent interpretation using AI to assist the catering industry with smooth transformation

In May 2021, due to the local COVID-19 outbreak, a ban on internal use was adopted, making the catering industry feel like it has entered a cold winter, with business bleak and operations facing difficulties However, there are also catering companies that have turned the crisis into an opportunity and actively carried out digital transformation, introducing online ordering and delivery platform systems, establishing customer membership systems, etc, to effectively reduce inventory and increase sales Intelligent Interpretation, a new start-up company established just one year ago, acts as a transformation consultant for the catering and retail industry, collecting, connecting and analyzing consumer behavior data to provide the best solutions for the cateringretail industry Li Qihan, the founder of Intelligent Interpretation, is good at online marketing and website construction As AI technology continues to evolve, he graduated from the Northern Phase II Manager Class of Taiwan Artificial Intelligence School AIA and was impressed by the large number of website sales Data and marketing analysis data can help companies improve their competitiveness and reduce operating costs Therefore, we established an intelligent interpretation company with Taiwan Artificial Intelligence School alumni, hoping to use member information to start collecting more first-party data to help customers build customer vision Analyze the data and identify relevant sales opportunities Targeting the catering and retail industries, intelligent interpretation helps stores use AI to transform "There are many small and medium-sized restaurants in Taiwan We hope to help these small and medium-sized restaurants use simple cloud services and social tools, such as Line, to start collecting and establishing member information systems and collect relevant information Consumption data is used to establish behavioral models of different consumers" Li Qihan went on to say that the catering and retail industries will be targeted at the initial stage, and different consumption behavior analyzes will be used to help stores further increase the frequency of customers visiting the store and the frequency of dining or purchasing, and reduce the use of ingredients Preparation costs The main features of the AI service of intelligent interpretation Affected by the ongoing epidemic, which has severely impacted the performance of physical stores, intelligent interpretation also assists physical stores in establishing e-commerce websites or shopping malls, combining physical and virtual consumption data to provide 360-degree OMO consumers Analysis, and can send marketing messages to different consumers, reducing the large-scale and indiscriminate casting of traditional marketing methods that cause customers to blacklist merchants or block lines, and also increase consumers' willingness to click and purchase Will Li Qihan pointed out that the AI service of intelligent interpretation has the following characteristics 1 Use LINE combined with membership system 2 Use QR Code to replace membership card 3 Provide LINE online orderingreservation 4 Use AI to analyze consumers’ personal preferences 5 Send coupons based on consumer behavior and preferences Using Line ordering information, you can understand consumer behavior such as consumer type, taste, time period, ordering frequency, etc, find consumers of the same group, and conduct summary analysis, which is important for one-to-one customized marketing Reference Li Qihan emphasized that the cost of digital marketing at this stage is very high If there is no classification and grouping after acquiring customers, preferential information will be distributed randomly and easily blocked by consumers The conversion rate will become lower and lower, and the marketing budget invested previously will be in vain AI combines the advantages of MarTech to provide exclusive customized services Although Intelligent Interpretation is a new startup that has been established for nearly a year, in terms of the company's future development strategy, Li Qihan hopes to use MarTech combined with the advantages of AI to first assist the catering and retail industries that are currently most in need of digital transformation Quickly enter the first stage of digital transformation, establish member information and collect consumer data, and then assist these companies to enter the second stage of digital transformation, analyze and use these consumer data, and provide exclusive customized services Li Qihan said that Taiwan’s MarTech market still has considerable room for development Most companies think that advertising on the Internet is the so-called MarTech, or that combining website data with advertising conversion rates and looking at the GA report Google Analytics every day is the so-called MarTech However, he believes that the above situation is only It stops at the collection and analysis of marketing data and is not integrated into the corporate sales and management levels In fact, after the data is collected, it still needs to be integrated, analyzed, and applied according to individual business scenarios This is the real MarTech application method Li Qihan, founder of Intelligent Interpretation, shared his smart retail experience at the AIGO forum As for most companies that believe that as long as they have data, AI algorithm analysis can solve all problems, Li Qihan suggested that companies should have a correct concept of data First, it does not have to be big data AI algorithms can also work with small data Great effect 2 Data is accumulated year by year To collect information, you need to understand the purpose and needs After collecting data, you need to find out its correlation That is to say, first define the use situation and the problem you want to solve, collect data, Only by analyzing data and using machine learning to identify undiscovered sales opportunities can we start to provide marketing application suggestions "The key to the success of using technology for digital transformation lies not in technical issues, but in concepts AI is not a magic pill that will take effect after taking it AI is more like a health food and must be taken continuously to help adjust the corporate body" This is Li Qihan realization He also mentioned that there is an 8020 rule in customer management How to define the 20 customer group What is the definition of VIP customer What issues does the company want to analyze What data should be disassembled It is necessary to peel off the cocoons layer by layer and clarify the above issues one by one This is the "basic project of the sewer" If the foundation is stable, there will be no problem in building a few more floors on top The Industrial Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ AI problem-solving competition creates a win-win situation for enterprises and innovations Intelligent Interpretation has assisted the internationally renowned catering chain Din Tai Fung to participate in the AIGO "Problem Solving" competition of the Industrial Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs It understands that almost all catering industries have problems with how much to prepare Many times, when there are too many guests, there is insufficient preparation There are fewer customers, resulting in a waste of ingredients Therefore, it is very important for restaurants to predict the number of customers every day Intelligent interpretation suggestions can be based on weather, store location, and special holidays such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc through AI , special time parents’ birthday, wedding anniversary and other data correlation analysis, the estimated number of guests is expected to increase the accuracy by more than 80, effectively using AI to solve the problems of catering operators Restaurant Consumer Service Flow Chart Li Qihan pointed out that "industry problem solving, new innovation problem solving" can help enterprises and AI startups find common goals, and also solve the dilemma of new startups not getting usable data, and provide identification through matchmaking on the enterprise side Based on the data, AI startups can put algorithms into practical application, and enterprises can also get solutions for digital transformation, creating a win-win situation After the epidemic, digital transformation is related to the life and death of enterprises How should the cateringretail industry choose AI companies and introduce them Li Qihan, who currently serves as an AIGO smart retail coach for the Industrial Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and a number of AI consultants, said frankly that if data analysis does not have a certain degree of understanding of AI and practical implementation experience, there may be a high chance of failure in project execution In the retail industry, when it comes to choosing an AI project company, it is best to choose a company that has actually introduced AI projects or has experience in operating e-commerce The recommended principles and steps for introducing AI into the cateringretail industry are If the problem the company asks is too big, it needs to continue to dismantle it Because different problems naturally require different ways of collecting data, with the help of consultants step by step After dismantling, use the data collected according to the usage situation to analyze, and you will naturally get the answer to the problem you want to solve After you find a certain accuracy, you can then use transfer learning to solve similar problems one by one Looking to the future, Intelligent Interpretation hopes to become the number one AI company in Taiwan in the catering and retail industries, using simple and practical methods to help the catering and retail industries implement AI and improve the competitiveness of Taiwan's industry「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-05-19」

【解決方案】日康科技運用AI人臉辨識偵測生理數據 知人知面也知心 自我健康不漏接
Zcon Telehealth uses AI facial recognition to detect physiological data so that people can know everything about their own health

On a weekend morning, Grandma Li, who lives in Taipei, was happily having a video call with her little granddaughter in Tainan through the screen of an AI health management robot Then at 900 am, the foreign domestic helper's mobile app displayed a health management reminder sent by the robot, notifying that Grandma Li needed her daily physiological data measurement Grandma Li faces the camera on the robotrsquos screen, and the screen displays Grandma Li's blood pressure, blood oxygen, heart rate, heart rate variability, and stress index The robot detected that grandma's blood pressure was a little high, and a picture of blood pressure medicines immediately popped up on the screen to help the foreign domestic helper quickly find the medicines, making Grandma Li feel more at ease when taking medicine This AI telehealth care application is not futuristic, but rather the AI-enhanced comprehensive telehealth care solution of Zcon Telehealth, which has been established for 10 years, providing thoughtful companionship for the elderly through AI It can be used for non-contact physiological data measurement in the post-pandemic era, significantly cutting the labor cost of care in half Bobby Pan, the founder and president of Zcon Telehealth, which has accumulated abundant technical capabilities in the telecommunications and banking industries over 20 years, observed that the demand for telehealth care is an inevitable business opportunity, and decided to establish Zcon Telehealth in 2013 He worked hard with the core AI technology team to develop a comprehensive telehealth care solution Four years ago, he set the goal to develop an AI-based telehealth care platform, and returned to school to study in a doctoral program, focusing on the research of contactless detection of physiological data using AI facial recognition technology He successfully obtained an invention patent 2 years later Zcon Telehealth is the third company in the world after an Israeli company and Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University to provide technological and service innovations for AI facial recognition to detect physiological data, and successfully incorporated it into the company's telehealth care management platform As Taiwan becomes an aging society, demand on elderly care will increase and become more diverse In addition, the increase in demand on physiological data measurement due to COVID-19, coupled with the shortage of manpower in care institutions, has highlighted the importance of telehealth care solutions The market demand for telehealth care can be divided into three main service targets home, social residence, and institutions Telehealth care can provide real-time physiological data detection, and the data can be uploaded to the cloud for storage, effectively solving the problem of insufficient caretaking manpower Seeing that the demand for telehealth care is irreversible at home and in care institutions, Bobbdy Pan observed that telehealth care should have five major elements, namely precision care, precision medicine, precision diet, precision health supplement, and AI companion robot He looks forward to the five major elements effectively connecting Zcon Telehealth's healthcare products, and providing more considerate telehealth care services for senior citizens or institutions To this end, Zcon Telehealth uses AI technology to strengthen comprehensive telehealth care solutions The company's products are integrated into four major areas, including telehealth care management platform, tele-psychological consultation platform, AI health management robot, and physiological data detection technology using AI facial recognition AI facial recognition technology contactless physiological measurement obtains data within 30 seconds, saving 12 of the labor cost of care The telehealth care management platform is an important core care platform of Zcon Telehealth It effectively integrates the exclusive measuring equipment provided by the company to daycare center, such as blood pressure monitors, forehead thermometers, and i-GlucoPal - needle-free blood glucose detection By downloading the smart care app of Zcon Telehealth, it can help long-term care institutions collect physiological data records of the elderly, and store the data in the cloud via Bluetooth transmission, allowing institutions to quickly obtain health data reports of the elderly Elderly people can also download the app, and use their own account and password to accurately measure and record their personal physiological data At the same time, family members can also use the account and password of their elders in institutions to keep an eye on the elder's health status and past measurement records The company is currently cooperating with 8 daycare centers affiliated to the Taiwan Rehabilitation Technological Association through the telehealth care management platform, which can significantly save 12 of the care labor cost, and has successfully provided 2,000 elderly people with general home care Regarding the tele-psychological counseling platform, Bobby Pan said that the company began to promote it in 2018, but online psychological counseling was not popular at that time Counseling centers only needed to use LINE or video platforms to provide services It was not until the COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years that caused people to go out less, which caused psychological counseling centers to lose a large number of customers Therefore, tele-psychological counseling platforms have become an important service channel for counseling centers to develop their customer base The tele-psychological counseling platform is provided to counseling centers in the form of an app Its functions include Google Meet video, online appointment, cash flow from payments, case management, account management, and emergency notification Counseling centers obtain a private account through Zcon Telehealth, and will be able to independently monitor the database management status of the counseling center, such as psychologist schedule management Zcon Telehealth thoughtfully provides the UberPsycho app service to clients After downloading the app, customers can locate and instantly match with the nearest counseling center and matching location to complete the search for a counseling center Customers can subsequently make an online video call or go to the counseling center to meet their counseling needs, breaking the limitations of space and meeting customers' needs for real-time consultation or spiritual companionship when they are emotional, truly achieving "Anywhere, Anytime, On-Demand Service" The product is an online psychological counseling platform that has been reviewed and approved by the Health Bureau and is compliant with regulations Counseling centers only need to apply online to start online counseling services, and do not need to worry about system setup At present, the tele-psychological counseling platform has successfully cooperated with 18 counseling offices in Taiwan Recognizing that AI companionship and housekeeping are important trends in telehealth care, Zcon Telehealth launched Taiwan's original AI health management robot, integrating hardware manufacturers with health management software services provided by Zcon Telehealth The service functions of the AI health management robot include the physiological measurement of Zcon Telehealth's Smart Care app combined with its own measuring equipment blood pressure meter, forehead thermometer, blood glucose meter, cloud storage of physiological measurement data and abnormal data notification, remote video monitoring, caregiver work reminders, medication reminders, and physiological data functions based on AI facial recognition The AI health management robot is mainly targeted at families with foreign caregivers Employers can set work item and time reminders on the Zcon Telehealth Smart Care app, such as accompanying elders for a walk, elders taking medicine, or taking photos while the elders are in bed The robot's screen or voice playback reminds foreign caregivers of work items when caring for the elderly When the foreign caregivers finish their work, they must tap the complete button on the robot's screen to indicate that the task was completed The AI health management robot can help employers effectively remotely track whether foreign caregivers have completed daily elder care tasks as scheduled In addition, employers can have video conversations with their elders through the app and the screen of the AI health management robot The screen can also display pictures of medicine to reduce the risk of elderly people taking the wrong medicine Bobby Pan said that "zero contact" has become an important hygiene behavior in the post-pandemic era Combined with telehealth care, Zcon Telehealth has launched AI facial recognition technology to detect physiological data, which is different from typical wearable devices in the market, such as smart watches or bracelets that use photoplethysmography PPG for contact-based physiological detection Zcon Telehealth uses remote photoplethysmography RPPG for facial detection This method extracts signals from the tiny periodic color changes in light reflected from the skin caused by heartbeat RPPG can be roughly described as a modified version of reflective PPG, in which ambient light replaces LED and a camera lens replaces the photoelectric detector Physiological data detection technology based on AI facial recognition uses contactless measurement to detect changes in facial blood flow through images This technology can simultaneously integrate measurement of blood pressure, blood oxygen, heart rate, heart rate variability HRV, and stress index Users only need to face a regular webcam or mobile phone lens for 5 seconds, and reference data of the five physiological indicators can be detected and displayed within 30 seconds The data can be viewed in Android, iOS, or web version This product can achieve convenient self-health management and measurement functions for those who frequently travel abroad, workers such as security guards, service providers such as taxi drivers, or migrant workers, replacing the inconvenience of carrying various physiological measurement equipment in the past Zcon Telehealth is the third company in the world to provide physiological data detection technology based on AI facial recognition The company has successfully applied for an invention patent due to the innovation of this technology and services AI facial recognition health management has successfully cooperated with the health management center of a hospital in Kaohsiung, and provides the center's members who download the app with self-health measurement services In addition to health examination centers, the AI facial recognition health management service also cooperates with domestic TV manufacturers to develop customized Android TV apps and integrate them into Internet-connected TVs to provide health measurement detection services Physiological data detection technology based on AI facial recognition can quickly measure and provide physiological data - Demonstration by Bobby Pan, founder and president of Zcon Telehealth Psychological consultation AI brainwave detection equipment to understand customers' mental health status in advance In terms of tele-psychological counseling platform services, Zcon Telehealth not only assisted counseling centers with developing new remote customer service channels during the pandemic, but also uses the UberPsycho app to quickly help customers match with psychological counseling centers that suit them It has also successfully provided value-added services that combine psychological counseling at counseling centers with AI brainwave equipment for brain health assessment through clinical verification It also obtained brain assessment and test reports, and then guided customers to appropriate psychologists for counseling "More than 23 million people in Taiwan receive psychological counseling services every year, and about 110 of them, or more than 230,000 people, need further psychiatric treatment" In addition, the psychologists have different clinical experience and judgment Bobby Pan pointed out that if psychological counseling can be combined with AI brainwave equipment for brain health assessment, and it can provide customers with the early prevention mechanisms of "mental health examination" and "psychological counseling" He believes that the company can quickly grasp the customer's mental state and prevent them from doing something they will regret With the support of the AI HUB project of the Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Zcon Telehealth cooperated with 5 counseling centers in field verification, providing the counseling centers with AI brain health assessment equipment The customer test report includes simple mental assessment, heart rhythm assessment, autonomic nervous system assessment, behavioral response assessment, brain health assessment, neurological response assessment, and brain emotion assessment In terms of breakthroughs in AI technology, Zcon Telehealth connects devices through a brain-computer interface for brain health assessment indicators, transmits physiological data, and uses a long-short-term memory model and convolutional neural network to analyze neural indicators It automatically generates a cognitive function assessment report through cloud services as the quantitative result of mental health examination This value-added service of the verified mental health examination solution has been actively expanded to all counseling centers in Taiwan through cooperating counseling centers In the future, the company will continue to cooperate with medical institutions and health examination centers to expand its business Psychological consultation AI brainwave detection equipment to determine mental health status in advance In terms of business model, physiological data detection technology based on AI facial recognition uses a non-binding payment mechanism Individuals or companies will receive AI blood oxygen detection cards provided by Zcon Telehealth, and scan the QRCode on the card using their mobile phones for unlimited self-health measurements within one month They only need to pay NT300 per month, which is quite affordable In addition, the fee for the telehealth care management platform is also very affordable at only NT100 for each account For the tele-psychological counseling platform, Zcon Telehealth signs annual contracts and bills customers on monthly basis The AI health management robot is provided for customers to buy out Looking towards the international market while based in Taiwan, developing diverse telehealth services From the perspective of Zcon Telehealth, how to successfully develop products, market them, and expand business opportunities has been a challenge since the company was founded Among them, the company's development of physiological data detection technology based on AI facial recognition was the most challenging Bobby Pan said that since there is no precedent in the industry, the only way was to go back to school to study Fortunately, he was admitted in a doctoral program two years ago and read countless foreign journals, which he then integrated into product design and development It took 2 years of hard work to achieve this result Zcon Telehealth is not only passionate about the development of AI-enhanced telehealth care services, but also believes that AI-based contactless physiological health measurement and data can provide people and care institutions with a more affordable, convenient, fast, and considerate health measurement option in the post-pandemic era In terms of business strategy, Bobby Pan hopes that recent promotion of the physiological data detection technology based on AI facial recognition will continue to increase market share and create cooperation opportunities with channels To this end, the SDK Software Development Kit developed by Zcon Telehealth allows any application owner to embed it into their solution, and can use the SDK to directly detect physiological data on Android or iOS devices It is also applicable to mobile phones, tablets, smart TVs, or smart health mirrors In the future, Zcon Telehealth will primarily target large-scale health companies for cooperation, and looks forward to finding more potential partners with the assistance of the Institute for Information Technology III In the past two years, Zcon Telehealth has actively expanded into the field of AI healthcare and maintained its leadership in AI facial recognition technology Facing the fiercely competitive AI healthcare industry, Bobby Pan said that Zcon Telehealth must plan ahead and will first provide physiological data detection technology based on AI facial recognition to charity and religious groups free of charge, in order to increase product visibility in the short-term In the mid-term, Zcon Telehealth will partner with large health companies, such as health examination centers, and utilize the big data collected through the cooperation to plan customized health products and services For long-term development, Zcon Telehealth plans to set up a branch in Texas, USA by the end of this year and establish local distribution channels It will actively expand business to emerging potential markets, such as Vietnam, the Middle East, and South America You can know what people look like but not what's going on inside Zcon Telehealth breaks through the traditional approach and uses AI facial recognition technology to detect multiple physiological data in 30 seconds, gaining insight into an individualrsquos current health condition, so that it can not only know what people look like, but also what's going on inside Bobby Pan said that it took years of hard work to complete the development of physiological data detection technology based on AI facial recognition Zcon Telehealth is looking towards international markets while it is based in Taiwan, and will develop diverse telehealth services Bobby Pan, founder and president of Zcon Telehealth

【解決方案】7毫秒內分離人聲 洞見未來科技協助聽損者「聽說更簡單」
Voice Separation in 7 Milliseconds: RelaJet's Future Technology Makes 'Hearing and Speaking Easier' for the Hearing Impaired

One rainy Thursday afternoon near Taipei Arena, the Taipei Experience Center of RelaJet was fully booked with appointments from people with hearing loss eager to try hearing aids made with a voice separation engine For the hearing impaired, having affordable, lightweight, and effective noise-reducing hearing aids is truly a blessing 'We hope to help users in need to hear the world's wonders again' This empathetic expectation by RelaJet's founder and CEO Po-Ju Chen, who is also hearing impaired, illustrates his understanding of the needs of the hearing impaired He hopes that RelaJet's unique voice amplification hearing aid technology will benefit many more people Affordable hearing aids benefit many with hearing loss Founded in 2018 by Po-Ju Chen and his brother Yu-Ren Chen, RelaJet developed a multi-voice separation engine paired with Qualcomm's Bluetooth audio platform, drastically reducing the price of imported hearing aids, typically costing 80,000-100,000 NT dollars, to just under 10,000 NT dollars They aim to develop affordable goods with excellent noise-cancelling capabilities that wirelessly connect to smartphones In its first two years, the company primarily developed the multi-voice separation engine, which significantly improved the noise reduction quality Once equipped with Qualcomm Bluetooth earphone chips, the audio processing time is drastically short, at about 7 milliseconds to enhance main voice projection and reduce ambient noise, less than half the time required by traditional medical standard of 16 milliseconds for hearing aids, nearly 'zero-delay' 洞見未來科技推出平價助輔聽器,大大嘉惠聽損者 Yu-Ren Chen explains that the primary use of Qualcomm chips for edge computing, along with a streamlined algorithm, achieves extremely low latency and better noise reduction The hearing aids can cover 18 channels, whereas traditional hearing aids cover 4-48 channels In the future, RelaJet will progressively increase the number of channels According to statistics, there are 470 million people globally with hearing disabilities, with a 30 average device use rate in developed countries, with the highest in Western countries Taiwan has nearly 15 million people with disabling hearing loss, of which the middle-aged and elderly make up 30, yet the device use rate is only about 10, which is quite low Yu-Ren Chen further analyzes that the low device usage rate is due to two reasons firstly, the high average selling price of international big brands ranges from 80,000 to 200,000 NT dollars with a three-year usability period, which deters many due to the high cost and maintenance Secondly, in noisy environments, the noise is also amplified which does not necessarily ensure clarity for the users, and the sound parameters can't be adjusted in real-time, making it inconvenient to frequently visit stores for tuning Thirdly, most models cannot connect to smartphones, making it inconvenient for the hearing impaired to take phone calls Utilizing Qualcomm Bluetooth chips for rapid product development In light of this, Po-Ju Chen, formerly a semiconductor engineer at MediaTek, leads the technical development, while Yu-Ren Chen, with a legal background, manages the operations Their seamless collaboration, along with their team employing AI algorithms and chip integration, learns from thousands of hours of audio files in databases through neural networks and deep learning technologies to develop low-latency, high-noise-reduction voice amplification technologies for hearing aids In 2019, this sound processing technology was integrated into Qualcomm Bluetooth chips, winning first place in the Qualcomm Taiwan Startup Competition and becoming a partner in Qualcomm's Global Expansion Program, significantly boosting product development pace In 2021, they launched their own Otoadd series of hearingenhancement products in Taiwan, which received both market favor and positive reviews from many with hearing loss Based on different consumer needs, various product designs are available According to Yu-Ren Chen, the Otoadd wireless earphones with hearing enhancement functions, model N1, are entry-level neckband style priced at 9,500 NT per pair Users can wear the hearing aid while taking calls, and control noise reduction strength and volume through a mobile app They plan to develop accessories in the future tailored to the needs of older adults Besides being available for trials at experience centers in Taipei and Kaohsiung, this hearing aid is also sold through PChome, Taiwan Mobile's myfone, and Elder Age networks, among other channels Another model intended for individuals with mild to severe hearing loss is the Classic R hearing aid, which received the Japanese Good Design Award in 2021 Since its market debut last year, it has attracted those with congenital hearing loss, with users noting improved clarity in noisy environments and appreciating the convenience of Bluetooth connectivity for calls and watching videos This product is anticipated to be exported to international markets in the latter half of this year Additionally, a hearing aid product combining Bluetooth functionality, set to launch in June this year, is sized like typical Bluetooth earphones, targeting visually conscious consumers with hearing loss Its small size and attractive wireless earphone design allow for phone calls, and if approved by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, eligible users can apply for government subsidies RelaJet to expand into overseas markets, using the USA as a beachhead An interesting question arises due to the pandemic everyone must wear masks which impedes lip-reading How does this affect those with hearing loss Yu-Ren Chen indicates that this situation highlights RelaJet's advantages As each person with hearing loss has different levels of hearing ability, hearing aids can only augment to an appropriate volume, assisting users to hear about 60-70 content, with the remainder relying on lip reading and gestures During the pandemic, as everyone wears masks, masks also muffle sounds, but RelaJet's voice separation engine can correct and strengthen the separation, making it easier for those with hearing loss to recognize voices Besides the Taiwan market, RelaJet's next stage will be expanding into overseas markets, expecting to obtain ISO 13485 medical device quality management system certification and US medical device approval in 2022 They plan to enter the US market, either under their own brand or through OEM arrangements Apart from the Taiwan market, RelaJet will also enter the US market in the next phase for hearing aids「Translated content is generated by ChatGPT and is for reference only Translation date:2024-05-19」