- The patented, AI-powered wearable tool predicts fruit firmness in under 30 seconds without internet, helping reduce waste and optimize harvests.
- Khalifa Innovation Centre highlights startups in AI, robotics, health, energy, and sustainability, boosting UAE’s tech commercialization and innovation ecosystem.
- Khalifa University reinforces its leadership in nurturing talent and translating cutting-edge research into solutions advancing digital transformation and sustainability.
Khalifa University of Science and Technology has introduced TouchRIPE, the UAE's first mobile fruit ripeness device among its newest research-informed innovations, along with showcasing 10 Deep Tech startups at two of the globe's biggest tech event platforms, GITEX Global 2025 and Expand North Star 2025, reaffirming its research innovation leadership, talent nurturing, and technology commercialization.
TouchRIPE has already been patented in the US and is being exhibited in the Abu Dhabi Government Pavilion, Hall-19, at GITEX. In Expand North Star 2025, organized by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, (Hall 6, Stand H6-A30) the Khalifa Innovation Centre (KIC), an incubation facility promoting startups via commercialisation of locally researched high-technologies, is presenting 10 Deep Tech startups led by Khalifa University researchers concentrating on AI, robotics, health, energy, and sustainability solutions.
GITEX Global 2025, from 13-17 October at the Dubai World Trade Centre, and Expand North Star 2025, from 12-15 October at Dubai Harbour, unite global leaders, innovators, and startups that are defining the future of digital transformation.
Prof. Bayan Sharif, Provost at Khalifa University, commented: "Khalifa University's presence at GITEX Global 2025 and Expand North Star reaffirms its position as a catalyst for national talent development, technology commercialization, and the UAE's vision to develop a knowledge-based economy. A particular highlight, alongside 10 startups by KIC, is the unveiling of the TouchRIPE agri-tech innovation, designed and developed in the UAE by Khalifa University researchers". These future technologies remain an example of how Khalifa University’s research translates into real-world impact, advancing the UAE’s leadership in innovation and technology-driven sustainability.
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Created by Khalifa University researchers, the 135-gram TouchRIPE does not need an internet connection, allowing for on-field use. The thumb-mounted, wrist-worn device makes predictions of fruit firmness in less than 30 seconds through a vision-based tactile sensor and on-board AI. Its performance emulates human touch, allowing farmers, inspectors, and agri-businesses to determine the ripeness of fruit non-destructively, reducing waste, optimizing harvest timing, and streamlining quality control throughout the food supply chain.
Among the showcased startups by KIC at Expand North Star is Nutrigenics Care, an AI clinical nutrition platform to optimize diet management, accepted into the Microsoft Founders Hub. Featured also are Deep Forecast, which provides AI-driven geospatial intelligence for environmental monitoring; DroneLeaf, creating autonomous AI-powered UAV solutions; and Kumrah AI, a spinoff from Khalifa University's Advanced Research and Innovation Center (ARIC) with specialization in neuromorphic vision systems for robotics and industrial inspection.
The lineup also includes IBSAR Technologies, an artificial intelligence research and consultancy with expertise in image and video analytics; Laboos Technologies, a developer of energy-saving medical wearables; and Mashyah Health, a data-driven rehabilitation tool. They are joined by Biotechnology startup Proscreenix; Stellaria (previously Farmin), to provide urban and environmental intelligence for smart city development; and Verdisol, which pushes forward sustainable agriculture and circular economy solutions.
