Starkey Korea CEO Richard Shim speaks during the company's in-house seminar at Hotel Shilla in central Seoul, Feb. 15. Courtesy of Starkey Korea

Starkey Korea has introduced the Genesis AI hearing aid. The company is a local distributor of the U.S.-based global hearing aid maker Starkey Hearing Technologies.

The company expressed its confidence in the new hearing aid product during its in-house seminar held earlier this month.

"The Genesis AI concludes five years of Starkey's recent R&D efforts," Starkey Hearing Technologies President and CEO Brandon Sawalich said during the seminar at The Shilla Seoul hotel in Seoul, Feb. 15. "The product will cause a paradigm shift in the global hearing aid industry."

In a bid to provide a more efficient hearing experience to users, Genesis AI features the Deep Neural Network on-chip engine, which automatically makes over 80 million hearing adjustments per hour.

The Genesis AI's Edge Mode+ also utilizes the engine to better control outside noise, similar to the active noise canceling systems common in recent headphone products.

Applying AI and integrated sensor technology, the new hearing aid offers health and wellness monitoring systems via the My Starkey mobile app. Featuring an alert system, Genesis AI notifies predetermined contacts if the user falls, and sends their location. Likewise, it also tracks various user activities including walking, running and aerobics.

Starkey Hearing Technologies President and CEO Brandon Sawalich, right, speaks during the company's in-house seminar at The Shilla Seoul hotel, Feb. 15. Courtesy of Starkey Korea

It also provides a real-time in-ear translation service in more than 70 languages. The app automatically detects words coming into the hearing aid and translates them to the user via the device.

Like most headphone products, Genesis AI also streams incoming calls and plays music.

The product has an industry-leading battery life, with up to 51 hours on a single charge, the company added.

"We always do our best to help people who experience difficulty in hearing," said Starkey Korea CEO Richard Shim. "We will continue our innovation in hearing aids to support their daily lives."

Starkey Hearing Technologies was founded by William F. Austin who opened a hearing instruments shop in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, in 1967.

With sales of more than 1 million hearing aids annually, Starkey Hearing Technologies is now one of the world's leading hearing aid manufacturers.

It expanded its business into Korea in 1996 and appointed Shim as the company's CEO.