Pure-Lex, a South Korean startup engaged in healthcare business, has joined hands with U.S. tech company Nvidia Corp. to launch an artificial intelligence (AI)-based pillow that helps reduce snoring and sleep apnea this year.

According to Pure-Lex on Sunday, the new pillow will be equipped with Nvidia’s AI software based on deep learning of respiratory data whilst asleep of patients with snoring and sleep apnea disorder. The pillow with the software senses an individual’s snoring and sleep/sleep apnea cycles and makes subtle motions to move the individual’s head to the side by inflating one side of the pillow when he or she snores or stops breathing.

It is the first time for a local startup to introduce a pillow loaded with software of Nvidia that is top in global AI and deep learning field.

Individuals using the pillow will be able to get better quality sleep as the pillow will help their respiratory tract open quickly.

There is growing expectation that the innovative pillow will cause quite a stir in the domestic pillow industry given that the AI software can fairly and precisely measure users’ conditions in real time.

The pillow is an outcome of a project led by Korea University’s Sejong Campus.

“Our current product has three sensors that detect the location of a user’s head whilst asleep and the sound of snoring,” said Kim Kyung-soo, chief executive officer of Pure-Lex. “When a person snores, the pillow makes gentle movements to help open the respiratory tract.”

A clinical test last year showed that the pillow helped reduce 71 percent of snoring intensity and sound while over 50 percent in the number of sleep apnea frequency.

“The upgrade version at the end of this year will have improved effect,” Kim said.

By Kim Si-gyun, Chang Iou-chung

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