California-based technology startup Stratio Inc is set to unveil its first product called LinkSquare at the 2016 International CES in Las Vegas.
What is LinkSquare?
- LinkSquare is an infrared scanner that could determine the composition of food, pharmaceuticals, and physical objects and would communicate the data to the users’ smartphone.
- The scanner could be used for verifying the authenticity of any such material.
- It uses the same kind of spectroscopy astronomers use to decipher the composition of distant stars.
- The device uses a germanium-based Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) image sensor to illuminate an object and capture its response to light.
- The technology has been used by large corporations and the military for decades.
- Stratio is making it accessible to ordinary people.
- LinkSquare is currently compatible with Android, and iOS support will be added in 2016.
- After CES, the company is planning a crowdfunding campaign in June 2016.
- The device is expected to be priced at $200.
Process:
Each type of molecule vibrates in its own way, and these vibrations interact with light to create a unique “optical fingerprint.” The data is analyzed through algorithms within Stratio’s database to identify a product’s composition, and results are then sent to the user via smartphone.
About Stratio:
Stratio was founded in 2013 by four Stanford University electrical engineering doctoral students. The company has been recognized in numerous startup competitions, including taking second place at the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students’ Start-up Challenge in 2013, winning grand prize at the Global Start-up Contest in South Korea in 2013, and receiving U.S. National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grants in 2014 and 2015.
