A startup company called PsiKick resulting from research developed by several teams located at the University of Virginia, University of Michigan, and the University of Washington, plans to manufacture the lowest power wireless sensors found anywhere in the world.
The founders of the startup see a future where countless everyday items from doors to gym equipment will have embedded wireless sensors tied together in a vast wireless network that will enable countless new smart behaviors. PsiKick chips are energy efficient requiring 1/100th to 1/1000th of the power needed by existing sensors, since they don’t need batteries.
PsiKick’s chips can be paired with existing sensor circuits to wirelessly monitor and analyze sound, light or electric impulses from the body such as human body heat, vibrations, or ambient light.
Benton Calhoun, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Virginia has been working on ultra-low power circuits for more than a decade. He founded the company with Brendan Richardson, CEO and Co-Founder in 2012.
In recent years, Calhoun’s research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the University of Virginia’s Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Translational Research partnership.
PsiKick recently received early round funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the largest venture capital funds in the world that has helped to launch dozens of influential technology companies. Funding also came from Osage University Partners and MINTS, a University of Michigan venture fund.
In June 2012, PsiKick was able to license technology from the universities of Virginia, Michigan, and Washington plus seed funding from a group of angel investors in Charlottesville. Since 2012, the company has made its first chips, won multiple contracts with various DOD agencies, and engaged with more than 20 customers for its ultra-low-power platform.
PsiKick’s first major products may be wearable sensors, building on an earlier concept to create a wearable long-term health monitor capable of recording patients vital signs such as heart rate, breathing, or even brain function.
As PsiKick Co-Founder Richardson summed up, “There is probably no single university that could have accomplished this research. This research required three major research universities with research groups working together to come up with the groundbreaking technology.”
For more information, go to www.pskkick.com.