ENTREPRENEURS
Sound and
24
Canadian startup Ora is looking
to take graphene mainstream
with speaker technology
that harnesses the material’s
incredible properties.
When Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov first
isolated graphene in 2004, it opened the door
for a wave of innovation based on the wonder
material’s jaw-dropping properties. Until now,
however, it’s fair to say the Nobel-winning
discovery has had limited impact for the
average consumer. But that could all be about
to change.
Wearable electronics, sports equipment and smartphones
have all hitched their wagons to the graphene hype train in
recent times, playing on the material’s incredible strength
and conductivity. In many cases, its inclusion is probably
more beneficial to marketing departments than actual end
users, although we’re also finally seeing some products that
are genuinely tapping into graphene’s enormous potential.
Canadian startup Ora’s GrapheneQ (GQ) headphones
May 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk
consumer technology
Andrew Wade reports
v i s i o n
/www.theengineer.co.uk