Tech

Ixana’s Wi-R Chip May Hard Launch Us into a Smarter Future

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ixana, wi-r, yr22

Ixana is back in the CES stage with an improved version of its Wi-R chip, bringing us improved non-radiative near-field communication.

  • The Wi-R-equipped device utilizes an electro-quasistatic (EQS) field whose changes hold encoded digital data.
  • Other Wi-R-equipped devices can pick up on these changes when touched and decode them appropriately.

Ixana came back to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024 with an improved version of its Wi-R chip, a non-radiative near-field communication technology.

Before we go any further, let’s talk about Wi-R technology. The simplest way to put this concept is “physical-touch-dependent Bluetooth.” A device with its Bluetooth enabled will emit signals in all directions.  However, a Wi-R-equipped device would create a weak electrical field around itself. It’s called an electro-quasistatic (EQS) field. The changes in this field’s properties encode digital data.

Now, this current would flow easily to a conductor, something through which electricity can pass. Like you! But don’t worry, it’s not enough to cause harm and it doesn’t spread through the air: it’s very localized. It can even differentiate between intentional contact and accidental contact based on pressure and duration of contact.

So, if I’m holding my Wi-R-equipped phone and I want to listen to music on my Wi-R-equipped headphones, I just have to put them on my head: no need to pair. You see, when the headphones entered my EQS field, their chip understood the encoded digital data. And voila! Paired and playing music. Now, if I were to touch a table (not made out of wood) that has a Wi-R-equipped speaker on it, the EQS field would travel through my hand and through the table to reach the speaker. You can share files and contact information with other people as well at the intentional touch of a hand, but that’s not as impressive.

But this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this. Ixana took the stage at last year’s tech expo, CES 2023, and showcased the YR11, the first Wi-R chip. This year, the company came back with its improved successor, the YR22.

Ixana’s YR22 Wi-R chip has a speed of 4Mbps, consumes less energy than Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and offers higher security. A representative from Ixana explained, “Because it couples into the human body, it creates a very private network. Anything within the body’s ‘bubble’ can communicate, while anything outside remains virtually blind to the signal. This provides a secure channel for communication.”

You could be wondering where you factor in all of this. Good question.

As we move towards a future that is heavily geared towards smart cities, smart vehicles, the metaverse, and all that ambitiously utopian stuff, we are coming into contact with technology more often and for longer periods. This little chip can make a world’s difference in body-worn health monitoring, extended reality experiences, and intuitive human-computer interactions.

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