CES 2026 and the move toward wearable robots you don’t wear all day.
Updated
January 13, 2026 10:56 AM
The π6 exoskeleton from VIGX. PHOTO: VIGX
CES 2026 highlighted how robotics is taking many different forms. VIGX, a wearable robotics company, used the event to introduce the π6, a portable exoskeleton robot designed to be carried and worn only when needed. Unveiled in Las Vegas, the device reflects a broader shift at CES toward robotics that move with people rather than staying fixed in industrial or clinical settings.
Exoskeletons have existed for years, most commonly in controlled environments such as factories, rehabilitation facilities and specialised research settings. In these contexts, they have tended to be large, fixed systems intended for long sessions of supervised use rather than something a person could deploy on their own.
Against that backdrop, the π6 explores a more personal and flexible approach to assistance. Instead of treating an exoskeleton as permanent equipment, it is designed to be something users carry with them and wear only when a task or situation calls for extra support.
The π6 weighs 1.9 kilograms and folds down to a size that fits into a bag. When worn, it sits around the waist and legs, providing mechanical assistance during activities such as walking, climbing or extended movement. Rather than altering how people move, the system adds controlled rotational force at key joints to reduce physical strain over time.
According to the company, the device delivers up to 800 watts of peak power and 16 Nm of rotational force. In practical terms, this means the system is designed to help users sustain effort for longer periods, especially during physically demanding activities_ by easing the body's load rather than pushing it beyond normal limits.
The π6 is designed to support users weighing between 45 kilograms and 120 kilograms and is intended for intermittent use. This reinforces its role as a wearable companion — something taken out when needed and set aside when not — rather than a device meant to be worn continuously.
Another aspect of the system is how it responds to different environments. Using onboard sensors and processing, the exoskeleton can detect changes such as slopes or uneven ground and adjust the level of assistance accordingly. This reduces the need for manual adjustments and helps maintain a consistent walking experience across varied terrain, with software fine-tuning how assistance is applied rather than directing movement itself.
The hardware design follows a similar logic. The power belt contains a detachable battery, allowing users to remove or swap it without handling the entire system. This keeps the wearable components lighter and makes the exoskeleton easier to transport. The battery can also be used as a general power source for small electronic devices, adding a layer of practicality beyond the exoskeleton’s core function.
VIGX frames its work around accessibility rather than industrial automation. “To empower ordinary people,” said founder Bob Yu, explaining why the company chose to focus on exoskeleton robotics. “VIGX is dedicated to expanding the physical limits of humans, enabling deeper outdoor adventures, making running and cycling easier and more enjoyable and allowing people to sustain their outdoor pursuits regardless of age.”
Placed within the wider context of CES, the π6 sits alongside a growing number of portable robots and wearable systems that prioritise convenience, mobility and personal use. By reducing the physical and practical barriers to wearing an exoskeleton, VIGX is testing whether assistive robotics can move beyond niche environments and into everyday life. If that experiment succeeds, wearable robots may become less about dramatic augmentation and more about quiet support — present when needed and easy to put away when not.
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Can SPhotonix’s optical memory technology protect data better than today’s storage?
Updated
January 8, 2026 6:32 PM
SPhotonix's 5D Memory Crystals™. PHOTO: SPHOTONIX
SPhotonix, a young deep-tech startup, is working on something unexpected for the data storage world: tiny, glass-like crystals that can hold enormous amounts of information for extremely long periods of time. The company works where light and data meet, using photonics—the science of shaping and guiding light—to build optical components and explore a new form of memory called “5D optical storage”.
It’s based on research that began more than twenty years ago, when Professor Peter Kazansky showed that a small crystal could preserve data—from the human genome to the entire Wikipedia—essentially forever.
Their new US$4.5 million pre-seed round, led by Creator Fund and XTX Ventures, is meant to turn that science into real products. And the timing aligns with a growing problem: the world is generating far more digital data than current storage systems can handle. Most of it isn’t needed every day, but it can’t be thrown away either. This long-term, rarely accessed cold data is piling up faster than existing storage infrastructure can manage and maintaining giant warehouses of servers just to keep it all alive is becoming expensive and environmentally unsustainable.
This is the problem SPhotonix is stepping in to solve. They want to store huge amounts of information in a stable format that doesn’t degrade, doesn’t need electricity to preserve data and doesn’t require constant swapping of hardware. Instead of racks of spinning drives, the idea is a durable optical crystal storage system that could last for generations.
The company’s underlying technology—called FemtoEtch™—uses ultrafast lasers to engrave microscopic patterns inside fused silica. These precisely etched structures can function as high-performance optical components for fields like aerospace, microscopy and semiconductor manufacturing. But the same ultra-controlled process can also encode information in five dimensions within the crystal, transforming the material into a compact, long-lasting archive capable of holding massive amounts of information in a very small footprint.
The new funding allows SPhotonix to expand its engineering team, grow its R&D facility in Switzerland and prepare the technology for real-world deployment. Investors say the opportunity is significant: global data generation has more than doubled in recent years and traditional storage systems—drives, disks, tapes—weren’t designed for the scale or longevity modern data demands.
While the company has been gaining attention in research circles (and even made an appearance in the latest Mission Impossible film), its next step is all about practical adoption. If the technology reaches commercial viability, it could offer an alternative to the energy-hungry, short-lived storage hardware that underpins much of today’s digital infrastructure.
As digital information continues to multiply, preserving it safely and sustainably is becoming one of the biggest challenges in modern computing. SPhotonix’s work points toward a future where long-lasting, low-maintenance optical data storage becomes a practical alternative to today’s fragile systems. It offers a more resilient way to preserve knowledge for the decades ahead.