Coeur d’Alene company Rohinni showcases new partnership, product at CES trade show in Las Vegas
Tech startup Rohinni is showcasing its newest joint venture this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that will bring micron-scale LEDs to the mass market for use in thin, high-performance video displays.
The Coeur d’Alene-based company partnered with Beijing, China-based BOE, a display panel manufacturer, to launch BOE Pixey, a cooperative effort to develop LCD display backlights and sensors for high-performance televisions and large video walls.
Rohinni’s microscopic-LED technology allows designers to use light to create products that are thinner, brighter and more power-efficient than current LCD displays, according to the company.
Rohinni and its joint venture partners are offering CES attendees a glimpse of several products, such as thin, power-efficient automotive taillights, a thread made from several micro-LED lights and keyboards with animated, color-changing lights in the Skyview Suite at the Mirage Hotel and Casino.
“The suite room feels like Grand Central Station with people coming out of there,” Rohinni CEO Matthew Gerber said Thursday. “We’ve had 10 of the world’s largest consumer electronic brands through the suite in the last few days looking at specific projects they want to leverage our technology in.”
More than 4,500 companies and startups unveiled new products at CES, an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association. The trade show draws more than 170,000 people each year.
It’s Rohinni’s third year of attending the trade show, but this time around, the company had a larger presence. On the opening day of CES, the company showcased products from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Gerber said.
“It’s the first time we’re really unveiling a big presence and samples from our joint venture partners,” Gerber said.
Rohinni partnered with KoJa, a Taiwanese company that is a leading provider of keyboard membrane switches, to create Luumii in 2016 – a venture that makes keyboard backlights and logos. Rohinni also partnered with Magna International in 2018 to launch Magna Rohinni Automotive, which utilizes mini- and micro-LEDs in taillights and rear view mirrors, among other things.
Rohinni, founded in 2013 by Cody Peterson and Andy Huska, has more than 90 patents pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Investors in Rohinni include Future Shape principal Tony Fadell, who is also co-inventor of the iPod and iPhone as well as founder of home automation company Nest.
BOE Pixey LED displays are expected to be available for purchase in the second half of this year.