Verizon and Newlab today announced the results from the latest cohort of startups in the 5G Studio. First launched in 2020, the 5G Studio supports the development of next-generation applications transforming a variety of industries including mobility, energy, and industrial automation. The four startups selected to participate in the third cohort leveraged Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network and mobile edge compute capabilities, installed at Newlab, to test their technologies.

The four selected companies used 5G and edge compute to develop and test technologies aimed at reimagining manufacturing and warehouses. Chosen from a cross-section of industries and disciplines, the companies’ areas of expertise span autonomous and stationary robots, sensors, location technology, machine learning, AI and more. 

“The 5G Studio was developed to enable the brightest innovators of today to develop the software solutions of tomorrow. Combining Verizon's 5G network, edge computing and frontier software technologies, with forward-thinking startups, has proven to deliver accelerated services and solutions to usher in the fourth industrial revolution," said Elise Neel, SVP of New Business Incubation at Verizon. “These network and software technologies have the power to transform the future of manufacturing and warehousing and we are excited to build upon the prior success of the 5G Studio with the third cohort’s impactful projects.”

The cohort companies and their solutions include:

IronYun - (Stamford, CT)

• Company Description: IronYun’s Vaidio™ AI Vision Platform provides AI-enabled video search and analytics for security, health, safety, and operations. The Vaidio Platform orchestrates multiple next-gen AI engines to search, detect and alert on real-time and stored video for license plate and facial recognition, as well as intrusion, smoke, fire, PPE, face mask, vehicle make and model, and more.

• 5G Application: IronYun installed Vaidio on an HD camera at Newlab to successfully monitor movement across a warehouse environment, flagging security concerns and breach of safety protocols. Processing on the On Site 5G , they utilized barcode scanning to detect and alert when workers weren’t wearing the proper PPE, employees were carrying specific items, etc.all with extremely low latency and in near real-time.
  

Orangewood Labs (San Francisco, CA)

• Company Description: Orangewood Labs manufactures industrial robotics arms (cobots) that are affordable to small businesses by leveraging proprietary AI/ML solutions to drive down hardware costs. Their robotic arms are easy-to-use, collaborative, and tele-operable, and are designed for industrial processes to increase throughput and help to solve labor shortages. Their use cases include Pick & Place, Machine Welding, Powder Coating, and Spray Painting.

• 5G Application: Orangewood Labs deployed their stationary arm robot at Newlab’s headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. Controlled over the On Site 5G, the robot was given tasks such as Pick & Place and object detection commands of certain items to demonstrate the efficiency of Verizon’s 5G infrastructure in an Industry 4.0 environment. The robot was able to react in near real-time while training the Orangewood Labs software at 10x speeds, enabling customers to task and re-task quickly throughout a production day, increasing the efficiency of the tasks
  

Sixdof Space (Jerusalem, Israel)

• Company Description: Sixdof Space has developed a patented high-speed optical tracking device that leverages visible or infrared lighting to serve as location beacons. Embedded in any manufacturer’s existing hardware, Sixdof Space’s products will independently report accurate positions at a very high speed, up to 1000 times per second, to any host system. More details on Sixdof Space can be found here.

• 5G Application: Sixdof Space ​​used the Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network to improve their collision risk prediction and to enable near real-time data transfer between their optical tracking sensors and proprietary software to accurately detect motion across a warehouse-like environment. The sensors, fundamental for the future of autonomous warehouses, continuously mapped the environment, notifying the Sixdof Space software when risk of collision increased. Shrinking reaction time and improving collision avoidance is essential to autonomous systems in the industry.

Wheel.Me (Oslo, Norway)

• Company Description: Wheel.Me is a robotics and IoT company that helps people improve the way they live and work by enabling anything indoors to move effortlessly on smart wheels.

• 5G Application: Wheel.Me leveraged the Verizon’s On Site 5G and edge compute technologies  to offboard processing of data from their autonomous wheels using edge compute, unlocking new use cases that cannot be supported with other forms of connectivity including: object avoidance, controlling multiple sets simultaneously,  teleoperation, and live updating of a single map. During the pilot, the wheels maneuvered across the Newlab HQ autonomously, avoiding objects and workers, all while carrying an industrial container. The wheels, guided by a LIDAR sensor, can make any object autonomously mobile and support the shift to smart warehouses.
  

“By leveraging Verizon 5G and edge compute, the 5G Studio is enabling leading-edge startups to create Industry 4.0,” said Satish Rao, Chief Product Officer at Newlab. “In order to make supply chains more efficient and resilient, we need next-generation solutions to critical challenges in manufacturing and warehousing. The 5G Studio brings together leading technologists and entrepreneurs from around the world to benefit from the combined resources, expertise, and community provided by Newlab through the collaboration with Verizon, to create real solutions with potentially far-reaching impact.”

This cohort’s 5G Studio, launched in September, follows the second cohort’s successful Studio, which saw the testing of numerous unique and transformative technologies. 

To learn more about the 5G Studio, click here.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed on June 30, 2000 and is one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $128.3 billion in 2020. The company offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, security and control.

About Newlab

Newlab is a community of experts and innovators applying transformative technology to solve the world's biggest challenges. Newlab membership and studios bring together entrepreneurs, engineers, inventors and industry leaders to create sustainable solutions and enterprises. Newlab employs technologies including robotics, AI and material science to transform what matters most—health, environment, media, cities, and infrastructure.