Connect with us

Technology

Lotus Wins for Groundbreaking Wearable Innovation Empowering Individuals with Disabilities at Vista Center’s Accessibility-Focused Startup Pitch Competition

Published

on

Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a nonprofit supporting individuals with vision loss for over 75 years, recently held its inaugural Startup Pitch Competition to showcase innovations in the underserved accessibility area. Lotus won the competition with its wearable device, the Lotus Ring, which allows users to control home environments with simple point-and-click gestures. Founded by former Apple engineer Dhaval Patel, Lotus empowers individuals with disabilities. The company will present at Sight Tech Global in December 2024 and receive Harvard Business School Alumni Angels mentorship.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired successfully hosted its inaugural Pitch Competition, where over 15 startups showcased breakthrough innovations to enhance accessibility for visually impaired and disabled users. Lotus emerged as the competition winner for its pioneering wearable solution. Finalists Equivalent and Lighthouse Tech were also recognized for their innovative contributions, each demonstrating significant potential to drive change.

“Being recognized by the accessibility community reinforces our commitment to innovative technology,” said Dhaval Patel, CEO of Lotus. “The Lotus Ring has a profound impact on daily life, and we’re excited to continue pushing accessibility forward and make this product widely available.”

Leading the Charge in Accessibility Innovation

According to the CDC, one in four adults in the U.S. lives with a disability, driving a growing demand for innovative accessibility solutions. Vista Center’s event highlighted this urgent need in a market that often operates in isolation, showcasing cutting-edge technologies designed to enhance independence and improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. This event is part of Vista Center’s ongoing commitment to raising awareness and advancing assistive technologies that promote inclusion.

“We were truly inspired by the diverse range of cutting-edge solutions presented at our inaugural innovation event,” said Karae Lisle, CEO of Vista Center. “Discovering companies pushing the boundaries of accessibility technology gives us hope for a future where independence is accessible to all.”

About LOTUS (Event Winner):

Founded in 2021 by a team of experts from top tech companies such as Apple, Google, and Nest, Lotus is revolutionizing assistive technology with its groundbreaking Lotus Ring. This wearable device empowers individuals with limited mobility to control their home environment through simple point-and-click gestures, providing new levels of independence and ease. Its versatility also extends to individuals with vision impairments, offering an intuitive alternative to traditional home automation systems.

This groundbreaking technology earned Lotus a speaking engagement at Sight Tech Global 2024 and a pro bono HBS/MIT Advisor Mentoring Session sponsored by Harvard Business School Alumni Angels.

Developed using a combination of universal design and inclusive design, the Lotus Ring requires no rewiring or complex setup—users can snap the Lotus Switch Cover onto an existing wall switch and start using it immediately. This feature makes home automation affordable and accessible, eliminating the hassle of traditional smart home systems.

The inspiration for Lotus came from founder and CEO Dhaval Patel, who developed the idea after struggling with mobility. Following a night when he couldn’t easily turn off the lights while using crutches, Patel was driven to create technology that could benefit others facing similar challenges. “If I, as an Apple engineer, didn’t have accessible smart home tech, who else is struggling?” Patel asked himself. His experience laid the foundation for Lotus’ mission: to build technology that everybody can use by optimizing for disability first.

“Being recognized by the accessibility community reinforces our commitment to innovative technology,” said Dhaval Patel, CEO of Lotus. “The Lotus Ring has a profound impact on daily life, and we’re excited to continue pushing accessibility forward and make this product widely available.”

Vista Center’s Startup Pitch event is part of a broader initiative to promote innovation in accessibility technology.

“Our goal is to support companies creating technologies that improve independence for the visually impaired community. The recognition of Lotus is well-deserved, and we are excited to have them take the stage at our Sight Tech Global (STG) conference in December.”

Sight Tech Global, now in its fourth year, is a premier global virtual conference that brings together technology pioneers who are creating new approaches to barrier-free navigation, human interaction, and equitable access to information. Free for anyone to attend, STG advances technologies supporting accessibility.

About Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired

For over 75 years, Vista Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has empowered individuals with vision loss to embrace life to the fullest through evaluation, counseling, education, and training. With low-vision clinics in Palo Alto and San Jose, California, Vista Center provides essential support through various comprehensive rehabilitation programs and services. By fostering collaboration with technology companies. Vista Center continues to champion innovations that enhance the independence and quality of life for people with vision loss.

About Lotus

Founded in 2021 and based in Silicon Valley, Lotus creates accessible home automation solutions that eliminate the need for rewiring or apps. Partners include the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the State of New York, and the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL). With over 1 billion people globally living with disabilities, Lotus’s innovative product, the Lotus Ring, has the potential to transform the lives of millions by providing greater independence and ease of use.

Media Contact

Jennifer George, Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 1 4083149833, jennifer@jgmmc.com, www.jgmmc.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/lotus-wins-for-groundbreaking-wearable-innovation-empowering-individuals-with-disabilities-at-vista-centers-accessibility-focused-startup-pitch-competition-302266603.html

SOURCE Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

Published

on

By

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

Continue Reading

Technology

Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

Published

on

By

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

Continue Reading

Technology

Air Products to Expand Industrial Gas Supply for Samsung Electronics’ Next-Generation Semiconductor Fab in South Korea

Published

on

By

New investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to Korea and its leading role in the global semiconductor industry 

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Air Products (NYSE:APD), a world-leading industrial gases company and serving Samsung globally, today announced it has been selected by Samsung to supply industrial gases for its new advanced semiconductor fab in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

Under the agreement, Air Products will build, own and operate multiple state-of-the-art production facilities and a bulk specialty gas supply system to supply nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and hydrogen for Samsung’s new semiconductor fab. The new facilities are expected to come onstream in multiple phases from 2028 through 2030.

Air Products has a long track record of executing multiple phase expansions in Pyeongtaek to support Samsung’s growing manufacturing needs. This latest project represents Air Products’ largest investment to date in the semiconductor industry and will establish Pyeongtaek as the company’s single largest operations site globally supporting the electronics industry. 

“Air Products is honored to be selected once again by Samsung and to have their continued confidence as a trusted partner supporting their strategic growth plans,” said SR Kim, President, Air Products Korea. “This significant investment reinforces Air Products’ role as a leading global supplier to the semiconductor industry and underscores our long-standing commitment to supporting our strategic customers with safety, reliability, efficiency and excellent service.”

Air Products has served the global electronics industry for more than 40 years, supplying industrial gases safely and reliably to many of the world’s leading technology companies. The company has operated in Korea for more than 50 years and has established a strong position in electronics and manufacturing sectors.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE: APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 85 years focused on serving energy, environmental, and emerging markets and generating a cleaner future. The Company supplies essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, medical and food. As the leading global supplier of hydrogen, Air Products also develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest clean hydrogen projects, supporting the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy in the industrial and heavy-duty transportation sectors. Through its sale of equipment businesses, the Company also provides turbomachinery, membrane systems and cryogenic containers globally.

Air Products had fiscal 2025 sales of $12 billion from operations in approximately 50 countries. For more information, visit airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedInXFacebook or Instagram.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. While forward-looking statements are made in good faith and based on assumptions, expectations and projections that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors, including the risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025 and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-products-to-expand-industrial-gas-supply-for-samsung-electronics-next-generation-semiconductor-fab-in-south-korea-302757497.html

SOURCE Air Products

Continue Reading

Trending