Taiwan has a rich history with hardware and electronics manufacturing. The island is home some of the largest semiconductor companies, chipmakers and consumer tech manufacturers, and, perhaps a lesser-known fact, it is home to a thriving community of entrepreneurs.
This year’s Asia Hardware Battle (AHB) stopped by Taipei in search for entrepreneurs who are true industry innovators. At AHB Taipei’s City Pitching event on Thursday (September 27), six qualified startups focusing on solving problems in different fields including computer vision, smart city, smart living, adult entertainment, and waste management, pitched their ideas to a crowd of hardware experts, enthusiasts and investors.
After a series of evaluation and screening by three prominent judges—Amanda Liu (CEO of Starfab Accelerator), Tony Liu (Investment Representative at Advantech), and Ryan Kuo (president of CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator)—the winning team was announced and will represent Taiwan at the grand final round of Asia Hardware Battle in Shanghai:
Winner: LUCID
Founded in 2015, LUCID is a computer vision AI startup that aims to help other companies eliminate the need for costly and space-consuming hardware solutions for depth-sensing systems through their self-developed software and AI. The company’s solution leverages dual-camera set-ups on smartphones, drones, laptops, AR/VR and security cameras to generate real-time 3D depth data. The depth information captured enables devices to “know” size, shape, and texture of different objects, such depth-sensing capabilities are invaluable to depth mapping and object detection. Its technology is capable of running real-time machine and deep learning to enhance the accuracy of depth-sensing,
Here are the other five qualified startups that were selected for Taipei’s City Pitch this year:
TWO IOT
TWO IOT’s solution intends to solve a growing waste management problem that cities all around the world are currently facing using IoT and blockchain. The company has developed a lightweight IoT hardware device “TWO” that measures real-time fill levels of waste bins, which can substantially lower costs and resources used in the waste management process. The device aims to optimize waste management in large buildings like airports and metro stations and also be scaled to city-wide deployments. The company is now collaborating with the Taipei City government to test the solution.
TurnMeOn Technology Inc.
TurnMeOn Technology is a developer of adult smart sex toys that leverage IoT and VR technology. The company’s first product, “Lovenuts”, is an interactive vibrator for women that can be activated and controlled via a mobile app. The vibrator has a flashlight functionality that works as a discreet design.
NESTECH
NESTECH focuses on access control system solutions that can be integrated into smart cities, hotels, homes, and offices. The company’s intelligent access control system, Cellbedell, is an NFC-enabled smart lock for businesses in the hospitality industry. The smart lock does not need an Internet connection to work, however, it can be controlled with a mobile app. For example, their technology enables travelers to use a smartphone with built-in NFC support to gain access into their hotel rooms.
Anchor Tech
Taipei-based Anchor Tech has developed smart control systems for buildings. The company has developed smart lighting control systems in commercial buildings that leverage IoT technologies to improve energy use in hotels, warehouses and parking garages in Taiwan and the US. Anchor Tech’s Logic Controller-AL1 system can link up and integrate home appliances from different manufacturers to talk to each other without the need of internet or public cloud connection.
Allton
Artificial lighting can cause heart disease, sleeplessness, and other health issues. Allton’s “Circadian Light Box” system is designed to control the light source of homes. The system can turn on the lighting in the morning, reduce the blue light at night, and adjust the lighting to the appropriate brightness and color temperature for both our physical and psychological well being.