1. No known connection to QUIK other than they are in the same coral reef...
   
   Events
   UPCOMING EVENTS
   January 6, 2016 toJanuary 9, 2016
   2016 International CES
   Valencell will be sponsoring the 2016 International CES show in Las Vegas January 6-9, 2016. Stop by booth number 74331 on Level 2 of the Sands Expo to see the latest biometric wearables powered by Valencell in action and get a sneak peak into the latest advancements in biometric wearables that are moving the industry forward.

    

   jfieb, Today at 9:23 AMEditReport

   #1Reply
2. 

   jfiebMember

   
   
   
   Nice blog - 
   
   
   http://www.valencell.com/blog/2015/11/wearables-need-connect-dots-between-fitness-and-health
   
   
   Wearables Need to Connect the Dots Between Fitness and Health
   November 16, 2015
   Posted By: Ryan Kraudel
   Market adoption for wearables has been growing at extraordinary rates in the last year (163% according to IDC) and is expected to continue rapid growth through the next 4-5 years. The majority of that growth has been from relatively young and fit people tracking their levels of fitness and activity in one form or another.
   
   Forrester Research, Consumer Technology Survey 2015
   
   
   
   There is so much more we can and should be doing with wearables today, but the technology has advanced much faster than the associated user experiences and consumer value. In order for wearables to continue on these growth paths, the consumer value enabled by these devices MUST catch up to the sensor technology powering these devices. While usage statistics are improving, too many people are still abandoning these devices after just a few months of purchase, and most indicators point to the fact that wearables are not providing compelling user experiences that continue to add value over time. A common refrain reported in our Biometrics Lab by users of popular wearables is: “I kept getting the same information each day…nothing new, so I lost interest.”
   
   Endeavor Partners, Inside Wearables - Part 2, July 2014
   
   
   
   Fitness and health will continue to be one of the primary reasons people buy wearables, but wearables need to start providing personalized insights and guidance over time that help keep users engaged. One path to long-term engagement with wearables will come from helping people connect the dots between the data wearables can collect and overall personal health insights. If your biometric wearable is powered by accurate, validated biometric sensor technology, then it already has the ability to deliver meaningful personal health assessments over time. The problem is that no products in the market today actually deliver on these capabilities.
   
   So let's look at what is possible today to connect the dots between fitness and health with wearables:
   
   First, it all starts with highly-accurate, motion-tolerant biometric measurements from the wearable device itself. The vast majority of biometric wearables today use optical sensors to measure heart rate and other biometrics using a methodology called PPG. However, only a few products can measure heart rate accurately enough to enable health assessments. Check out this post on PPG if you want more detail on the technology and why it’s so difficult to do right.
   
   Second, getting a highly accurate PPG signal from optical sensors enables a large number of advanced biometrics to be measured and assessed through PPG. Based on the research of our Biometrics Lab, here are some of the most common biometric data that can be made available in wearables today:
   
   

   • Continuous heart rate
   • Heart rate response
   • Continuous RRi (used to measure heart rate variability)
   • Continuous breathing rate
   • VO2 and VO2 max
   • Continuous energy expenditure (calorie burn)
   • Cardiac efficiency

   Third, the advanced biometric measurements enable a wide variety of fitness and health assessments that can provide long-term engagement for wearables users. For example, most people are aware that resting heart rate is inversely correlated to fitness levels - the lower your resting heart rate, the higher your fitness levels. However, many people don’t know that steadily increasing resting heart rate is correlated with the progression of cardiovascular disease [Arnold, Fox, Nauman]. Moreover, resting heart rate can be difficult to assess, as the timing of measurement can be critical, and cardiac efficiency can be more reproducible proxy for cardiovascular health assessments.
   
   Here are some other assessments and what they mean for both fitness and overall personal health:
   
   
   
   These are just a few of the personal health insights that are possible today and should be readily available in wearables of all kinds. We should expect more. The user experiences are not delivering on the potential that today's technology allows, but that is starting to change. In 2016, you will start to see products that begin to close the gap between the capabilities of the technology and valuable, engaging user experiences. Stay tuned for some exciting developments in this area!
   
   
   
   Would I invest in their business? Yup I sure would,
   How long will they stay their independent course?
   
   I am going to track theses guys.
   
   These algos are more complex and something like the EOS?

    

   jfieb, Today at 9:27 AMEditDeleteReport

   #2Reply
3. 

   jfiebMember

   read this one and I will put a commentary at the end....
   
   ECOSYSTEM
   We Work with a Global Ecosystem of Partners to Help You Deliver Award-Winning Wearable Technology
   Bringing a successful biometric wearable product to market requires a broad array of partners across the supply and demand chains, including:
   

   • Chip vendors such as ST Micro, Silicon Labs, and Maxim
   • Contract Manufacturers (CM’s) /Original Design Manufacturers (ODM’s) that have experience building high-quality wearable tech in your chosen form factor
   • Supply Chain partners and Distributors such as Avnet, Arrow, and EDOM
   • App vendors such as Under Armour, Runkeeper, Runtastic, and many more

   Working with Valencell gives you immediate access to a global ecosystem of partners that spans:
   

   • 14 Valencell-certified CM’s/ODM’s
   • 8 chip vendors
   • 6 supply chain partners
   • 3 global distributors
   • Numerous other partners in the areas of product launch and user experience, including PR/media relationships, health/fitness app vendors, and academic and research organizations providing independent technology validation.

   VALENCELL'S GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
   
   
   EXTENSIVE SUPPLY AND MANUFACTURING PARTNER NETWORK
   
   
   Valencell customers have used our technology and this ecosystem to create award-winning products including:
   
        
   
   
   VALENCELL CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
   We created the Valencell Certification Program to ensure quality, repeatability and worker safety in the product manufacturing and quality control process. The Program certifies the engineering and manufacturing capabilities, equipment, and working environments of CM’s and ODM’s that build Valencell-powered products. The process also includes regular site visits to validate certification requirements are met now and in the future.
   
   This ensures you can work with established partners who have proven experience designing and building biometric wearable technology in your form factor of choice. In addition, brand risk is mitigated by ensuring the quality of the working conditions and labor policies at manufacturing partners.
   
   To find out more about how you can leverage Valencell’s technology and ecosystem, we welcome you to reach us at licensing@valencell.com.
   
   Check out a few short videos on the Valencell ecosystem and working with Valencell
   
   
   Don't be at all surprised if we read that QUIK will put Valencell on the EOS, First with a good implementation on the Eos, with the MCU dpoing a lot.
   
   If it goes BIG time= hard code engine for Eos 2.

    

   jfieb, Today at 9:31 AMEditDeleteReport

   #3Reply
4. 

   jfiebMember

   Valencell Expands Intellectual Property Portfolio with Critical Patents Enabling Highly Accurate Biometric Fitness and Health Assessments
   12 patents granted in 2015 brings Company’s global portfolio of highly-cited patents to 29
   
   Raleigh, N.C. – November 23, 2015 -- Valencell, a leader in biometric data sensor technology, today announced it has been granted 12 new patents in 2015 in the US, Europe, and Japan, expanding the Company’s intellectual property portfolio to 29. Valencell’s patent portfolio is the most highly-cited patent portfolio in wearable biometrics and the Company has more than 60 additional patents pending. The new patents recognize advancements in motion-tolerant biometric sensor technology that enable wearable devices to deliver insightful fitness and health assessments. 
   
   Valencell PerformTek sensor technology gives wearable devices the ability to continuously and accurately measure weak blood flow signals even during extreme physical activity. These signals are translated into biometric data, including continuous heart rate, VO2 and VO2 max, resting heart rate, heart rate response, heart rate recovery, continuous energy expenditure (calorie burn), cardiac efficiency and heart rate variability. When measured accurately, these metrics have been scientifically proven to provide insights into a person’s fitness and health, as outlined in a recent Valencell blog post. The accuracy of Valencell’s technology is what makes it stand out from other options and enables the data to be applicable to health assessments.
   
   “Over the past two decades, numerous fitness and health assessments have been developed and validated by researchers across the world, but the big challenge has been getting accurate biometric information into these models through devices that consumers already wear. Our team of expert biometric engineers and exercise scientists have dedicated their careers to developing the most advanced wearable optomechanical biometric sensor technology in the world,” said Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, president and co-founder of Valencell. “These new patents further illustrate our technology’s ability to track key biometric measurements in wearables of all shapes and sizes with the accuracy needed to make real health assessments.”
   
   The 12 patents granted include:
   

   • U.S. Pat. No. 9.131,312, “Physiological monitoring methods”
   • U.S. Pat. No. D736,935, “Biometric monitor housing”
   • U.S. Pat. No. D733.598, “Biometric monitor”
   • U.S. Pat. No. 9,044,180, “Noninvasive physiological analysis using excitation-sensor modules and related devices and methods”
   • U.S. Pat. No. 8,989,830, “Wearable light-guiding devices for physiological monitoring”
   • U.S. Pat. No. 8,961,415, “Methods and apparatus for assessing physiological conditions”
   • U.S. Pat. No. 8,942,776, “Physiological monitoring methods”
   • U.S. Pat. No. 8,934,952, “Wearable monitoring devices having sensors and light guides”
   • U.S. Pat. No. 8,929,966, “Physiological monitoring methods”
   • U.S. Pat. No. 8,929,965, “Light-guiding devices and monitoring devices”
   • European Patent Number 002684001-0001
   • Japan Patent Number 5,789,199

   Valencell PerformTek Technology has been licensed by leading brands such as Sony, Intel, LG, Scosche, and Jabra, among numerous others. PerformTek is the only technology available that continuously measures heart rate, VO2, calories burned, cadence with scientifically-validated accuracy. To learn more about licensing Valencell technology, visit http://valencell.com/licensing. 
   
   
   If QUIK can hard code Sensory audio algos be certain they can hard code Valencell also for EOS 2? Don't be surprised that they do that.

    

   jfieb, Today at 9:36 AMEditDeleteReport

   #4Reply
5. 

   jfiebMember

   IDTechEx Wearable Technology USA 2015
   
   
   Dr. Steven LeBoeuf will be a featured speaker at the IDTechEx Wearable USA 2015 conference November 18-20 in Santa Clara, CA. Dr. LeBoeuf's presentation on wearable technology is titled Wearable Sensors: Bridging the gap between fitness and health. High performance sensor technology is driving the wearables market beyond basic fitness tracking to products which will impact public health in ways never seen before. This gap between simple fitness data and true health awareness is closing fast as advanced sensors now generate accurate, continuous metrics and provide users with personalized insights such as response to varied activity levels and the positive impact, over time, on personal health. Read more at: http://www.idtechex.com/wearable-technology-usa/show/en/
   
   Dr. LeBoeuf will also be teaching a Master Class on Sensors for IoT, Wearable and Autonomous Vehicles. This class provides coverage of the key sensor technologies used in IoT, Wearable Technology and Autonomous Vehicles. Sensors are the key enabling component for many of the most exciting new applications in these areas. Whilst the end result can be very varied, the sensing technologies used in each of these sectors have inherent similarities. Therefore, this class brings these topics together around their component-level building blocks, describing the broad opportunity available to players in this field. This masterclass is setup to provide an overview of each of the technologies used today (including describing the supplier landscape). The speakers will detail the challenges when refining their function for each application. Finally, the opportunities for development and growth in this area will be outlined, using some examples of current research-level projects. Sensor technologies covered include: MEMS optical sensors touch sensors chemical sensing broader environmental sensing and positioning systems . Read more at: http://www.idtechex.com/wearable-technology-usa/show/en/masterclasses

    

   jfieb, Today at 9:37 AMEditDeleteReport

   #5Reply
6. 

   jfiebMember

   The rich coral reeef is small. Dr Saxe and Dr LeBeoff go to the same places, they talk...
   
   blast form the past
   
   
   
   Commentsby Karen Lightman, executive director, MEMS Industry Group
   
   
   
   his holiday season, most of my friends/family received some form of wearable device as a gift. Even my 84-year-old dad is joining the wearable bandwagon and is finally giving himself what should probably be termed the original “wearable” -- a hearing aid.
   
   As executive director of MEMS Industry Group (MIG), the trade association advancing MEMS and sensors across global markets, I, too, have a sensors- and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)-laden wearable device that silently sits on my wrist and somewhat accurately counts my steps and tracks my sleeping habits. I long for the day when I can have a wearable that is seamless and elegant as it counts my calories (in and out), accurately assesses my health, and which harnesses energy from the vibrations created through my own movement.
   
   So how far off is this wearable Utopia? To get a reading on what it takes to design wearables for consumer success, I asked a few of the experts in the MEMS/sensors supply chain who eat/sleep/pray in the wearable device tech world and will be joining me at MIG’sMEMS and sensors conference on wearables at the 2015 International CES on January 6.
   
   Wearable devices represent one of the fastest-growing market segments in consumer electronics. They rely heavily on technology from the MEMS/sensors supply chain in order to track activity, interpret motion and augment reality. But designing for these space-constrained devices -- which must be low power and increasingly packed with functionality (we’re way beyond just step-counting these days) -- is not without its challenges.
   
   Tim Saxe, CTO of QuickLogic, believes that “the top issues depend on whether the developer is thinking of a wearable device without a display or one with a display…For devices without a display, the top challenge is how to get really, really long battery life. The goal seems to be six months minimum, with one year preferred.”
   
   Saxe elaborated that “for devices with a display, the challenge is control, and people want non-touch ways to control the device. How to make this ‘intuitive’ i.e. convenient, repeatable and easily discoverable, is an emerging area so people have lots of ideas and need to quickly try them out and refine them.” For me this brings visions of Google Glass vs. Jawbone UP vs. Apple iWatch: Everyone is placing bets on what form factor and design will win this race. And it reinforces my belief that for a wearable to be successful in the marketplace, the user needs to be unaware that he/she is actually wearing it.
   
   Several folks pointed out that a key issue for wearables is that each time a user has to take them off or can’t use them is a chance for the user to lose interest. At this point, that device could “end up in the sock drawer,” said Dr. Steven LeBouef, president of Valencell.
   
   Seppo Nissilä, CEO of SilverBlip shared with me his list of pain points, which include technical challenges. “Low-power and small form factor do not happen without many design rounds,” said Nissilä. He also called out a warning shot regarding validation/compatibility/IP challenges “that are often underestimated in small companies and big ones, too.”
   
   When I asked David Allan, president of Virtuix, what keeps him up at night, he said, “In the MEMS field, the mobile phone is the ‘big boss.’ Yet most startups aren’t designing phones. When you try to design something different, like wearable motion sensors for virtual reality, you immediately hit a roadblock: the fusion software that comes free with sensor devices caters to the needs of the phone. It fails to capture complex translational and rotational motions that differ from typical phone applications. So you need to customize the fusion. But then, you find out that custom software costs maybe six or even seven figures to develop...and you’re stuck. We got lucky and found ex-InvenSense engineers to develop our fusion. But many startups, lacking contacts in the sensor industry, won’t know how to proceed. One encouraging development on this front: MIG’s open-source algorithm cooperative, the Accelerated Innovation Community (AIC), which includes an open-source C library for 3-, 6- and 9-axis sensor fusion.”
   
   Becky Oh, board member of PNI Sensor Corporation, identified power consumption as one of the most pressing challenges of designing wearables. “As space-constrained devices, batteries must be as small as possible – so every microamp of power consumption is critical.”
   
   And Oh believes that sensor fusion is a big part of the solution to the power issue. “Since these devices will use sensors for always-on monitoring, there need to be hardware and processors that are optimized specifically for sensors and sensor fusion algorithms, such as intelligent sensor hubs or sensor coprocessors. These sensor coprocessors have architectures that are optimized for sensor-related algorithms and interfaces, making them much lower power than a general purpose processor.
   
   The second major challenge, according to Oh, is value added data analysis. “At the hardware level, capturing the raw data accurately is key, but in order to achieve this in the design phase, you need hardware development platforms that are form-factor ready -- essentially requiring you to build the wearable before feasibility studies are completed.”
   
   Valencell’s LeBoeuf had another major challenge in mind, one that relates closely to his company’s biometric sensor technology: “The advent of I2C MEMS and sensor solutions made our biometric signal extraction technology a lot more scalable for OEMs. But I2C optical sensor solutions were geared towards proximity detection -- not biometric sensing. For this reason, additional microprocessor resources were required to make up for suboptimal sensing -- draining battery life and limiting our market opportunities.”
   
   LeBoeuf ultimately overcame this problem “by working with silicon solution providers early in the process, teaching them what changes needed to be made in order to keep accuracy high while maintaining high battery life.”
   
   Though these challenges may seem insurmountable, on the bright side, it’s clear that my colleagues are well positioned to both name and address them. My guess is that in the next year or two, we’ll see some of those seamless, elegant wearable devices packed with functionality that I now dream of.
   
   Hey QUIK, can you work with Valencell the same way you have with Sensory Inc? Thanks in advance.

    

   jfieb, Today at 9:43 AMEditDeleteReport

   #6Reply
7. 

   jfiebMember

   A fun digression
   
   
   http://www.eejournal.com/archives/articles/20141017-fishfry/

    

   jfieb, Today at 9:49 AMEditDeleteReport

   #7Reply
8. 

   jeffActive Member

   To be clear...Vallencell does not directly compete with QUIK or isn't a component supplier? From what I gather from all articles above, and thanks for sharing, Vallencell is more of an Algorithm co. than sensor hub co. correct? Are they private?

    

   jeff, Today at 9:59 AMReport

   #8LikeReply
9. 

   jfiebMember

   Jeff , one way is to consider that they are a sensory Inc type company with a focus on next gen health.
   
   Is there any difference?
   
   Yes, sensory is a UI so it can go on smartphones. Valencell needs sensor on the body so wearables.
   
   Food for thought...
   
   QUIK is due any day for a Eos based wearable ref design. maybe they have a partner or two for this?

    

   jfieb, 41 minutes agoEditDeleteReport

   #9Reply
10. 

    jfiebMember

    • (PPG)

    Protected by dozens of granted patents and >60 patents pending, Valencell’s PerformTek® sensor technology continuously measures more real-time biometric data than other fitness monitors, with a high degree of accuracy, and does so in a single device. Seamless integration of PerformTek® sensor technology within wearable devices makes it ideal for use in fitness training, athletic performance coaching, gaming and many other related applications.
    
     Scalable to multiple form-factors such as earbuds, smartwatches, armbands and wrist devices, PerformTek® biometric sensor technology is the only continuous heart rate monitoring technology proven accurate during virtually any exercise and in virtually any environment. Valencell has executed thousands of tests to prove the robustness of the Valencell biometric sensor technology during many different physical activities and environmental conditions. Please see our white papers for more information.
    
    
    Valencel and QUIK could make one fine wearable reference design?
    
    they had 25 + people, maybe a LOT more now?

     

    jfieb, 32 minutes agoEditDeleteReport

    #10Reply
11. 

    jeffActive Member

    While some consider the "jury" still out for wearable's in the consumer "gadget" sector I see healthcare, eldercare, home and autos as target rich for sophisticated algorithms -sensors and do hope QUIK has a longer range plan in these segments.
    
    As to the EOS wearable reference design ...likely to be announced during CES I would assume. As Rick noted he is "cautiously optimistic" for QUIK share performance about this time next year as would I be if Samsung engages in a flagship smartphone relationship with QUIK and Andy Pease's surprisingly candid statement regarding Q4 2016 as a breakeven quarter with revenue between $11-$12 million as a catalyst. I am eager to see if either the algo library SenseMe has had any traction with major OEM's ahead of the holiday quarter (Christmas and Chinese New Year). I have been actively reviewing smart watches and wearable fitness bands and have been impressed with many designs but still do not see many compelling use cases. Novel and clever but not necessary compelling. At the moment I lean toward smart watches over fitness bands from a personal perspective. So far Apple watch remains the most compelling design and use case in my opinion. Thanks for the reply.

     

    jeff, 26 minutes agoReport

    #11LikeReply
12. 

    jfiebMember

    integrating a heart rate and biometrics monitor solution within a wearable device
    
    Presented by Valencell
    
    Designing wireless sensor node for wearable applications
    
    
    
    We know QUIK has a wearable reference platform all done.
    We are due to hear of it soon.
    
    We know they got a TOP notch Audio partner in Sensory for the Smartphone Eos platform.
    Don't bve surprised that we have Valencel for a wearable one?
    
    Or someone just like them?

     

    jfieb, 18 minutes agoEditDeleteReport

    #12Reply
13. 

    jfiebMember

    http://www.valencell.com/sites/default/files/2000x2000_ref_design_1.jpg
    
    QUIK can you two do the next gen of this? Thanks.
    
    These guys look like the Sensory of Biometrics?

     

    jfieb, 6 minutes agoEditDeleteReport

    #13Reply
14. 

    jfiebMember

    Last yr CES...
    
    Valencell Will Be All Over CES 2015
    Posted on January 5, 2015
    
    
    Biometrics developer Valencell will be on a charm offensive during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The company’s CEO, Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, will be a presenter at the MEMS Technology Conference Session on the morning of January 6th and a panelist in the Innovator session of The FitnessTech Summit Conference later that same day.
    
    It’s an opportunity for Dr. LeBoeuf to shine a spotlight not just on his company, but on the athletic- and fitness-tracking subfields in which Valencell specializes. The MEMS session will see him discuss the potential of biometric earbuds for such industries as athletics and gaming, while the Innovator sessions will place more of a focus on personal health-tracking.
    
    Having seen a 300 percent increase in its licensing partnerships over the last year, Valencell now has a number of products sporting its biometric sensors showcasing in CES. With the current excitement over wearable tech, biometric technology has enormous potential for applications in these areas, and with the athletic-tracking and gaming sectors driven strongly by consumer demand, a business model that focuses on getting biometric tech into other companies’ devices is clearly a winning strategy – one that has vaulted Valencell into the spotlight during this year’s CES.
    
    
    A good mental model
    
    —
    The adjacent possible says that QUIK and Valencel would be for wearables the same as QUIK/Sensory and Smartphones.
    Time will tell.
    
    That would be 2 powerful platforms.