Is Airo the Cold Fusion of the Sensor Market?
Canadian start-up Airo’s announcemewnt that they had developed a
wristworn device that can — among other things — passively track
nutrition, including calories, carbs, protein, and fat has been met with
scepticism. Airo, as the device will be named, uses an optical sensor
to detect signatures of various metabolites to infer the wearer’s
nutrition habits. A competitor commented “if they can optically
measure that through the skin they will win the Nobel Prize”. He went
on to explain that “reflective or transmissive light detection through
the skin is a very difficult problem. Billions of dollars have been spent
by more than 100 companies in the non-invasive glucose measurement
market to measure analytes through the skin – without success.
Airo have now refunded payments to those who pre-ordered the
device, saying it needs further validation.
Booz&Co. -The 2013 Global Innovation 1000 Study:
Navigating the Digital Future
The annual report from Booz&Co. on global R&D spending in the
worlds 1000 largest companies reveals that the top ten innovators
consistently outperform the top ten spenders. Apple and Google have
occupied the 1st and 2nd places consistently for 5 years, but Samsung
has moved from 9th place in 2009 to 3rd place in 2013. Suggested
reasons for high innovative performance are:
Deep customer insight
Alignment of innovation culture with business strategy
...Continued
Sensor100 November News 2013
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