How one little sensor will make your life better

Sensors are in your future, from cancer detection to self-driving cars, and Israel’s Vayyar hopes to have a hand in many of them

ISRAEL21c

Science-Technology | Comments | September 13, 2017

Vayyar sensors provide a 3D map of people in a room without revealing identities

How did an Israeli startup evolve from using radio frequency (RF) technology intended to detect breast cancer to creating palm-sized devices that can monitor passengers in self-driving cars? That’s the remarkable story of Vayyar Imaging, which is building a multi-purpose sensor with real-life uses that sound straight out of science fiction. Vayyar’s three cofounders – Raviv Melamed, Miri Ratner and Naftali Chayat – discovered in 2011 that each had a family member suffering from cancer. They set out to make a difference. The product they built was a thumb-sized sensor with 24 built-in RF antennas.

RF signals can penetrate anything from human tissue to concrete walls. Because objects made of differing materials absorb the RF signals at varying rates, some signals go straight through an object while others bounce back at distinctive strengths, creating what Vayyar head of marketing Malcolm Berman describes as “a reflection.” Vayyar then uses its many antennas to stitch those reflections into a 3D image. For breast cancer, Vayyar could be used to differentiate between normal tissue and a tumor, and between benign and malignant tumors. Vayyar’s founders soon realized that the same technology could be used in almost unlimited applications – from smart homes to self-driving cars to milking cows. In the latter, Vayyar’s sensors can analyze the make-up of the milk and flag it if it’s not up to standards. -- More...

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ISRAEL21c was founded in 2001, in the wake of the Second Intifada, to broaden public understanding of Israel beyond typical portrayals in the mainstream media.

The organization’s founders – Israeli-American technology executives – understood the great power of the Internet and developed a first-of-its kind online product with global appeal and reach.